


I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends

by amandapanda425



Category: Charmed (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blackouts, Chasewood friendship, Drugging, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Hacy, Healing from trauma, Inability to remember, Joggie, Kidnapping, Nonconsensual Touching, Nonconsensual kissing, Season 2 Rewrite, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:07:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 194,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26804860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amandapanda425/pseuds/amandapanda425
Summary: Season 2 Rewrite focusing primarily on the Hacy relationship.Macy never tells Harry she can hear his thoughts while she's the Source. After the Source is removed, she starts to feel things for him. One night, she lets herself give into those thoughts and hooks up with him. How will that affect everything once Harry's Darklighter makes himself known?
Relationships: Harry Greenwood & Macy Vaughn, Harry Greenwood/Macy Vaughn, Jordan Chase & Maggie Vera, Jordan Chase/Maggie Vera, Ruby/Mel Vera, mentions of Macy Vaughn/Galvin Burdette, mentions of Niko Hamada/Mel Vera, mentions of Parker Caine/Maggie Vera
Comments: 178
Kudos: 136





	1. Chapter One: The Source Awakens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the situation with multi-chapter stories and me. I've never finished one. I've started a lot of them, but I've never finished any. Here's the good news. I've already got 15 out of 20 chapters written and I'm determined to finish this one. I've already written over 300 pages. So, get ready for ridiculously long chapters. 
> 
> This story would be a hot mess if it were not for my wonderful beta, katasstropheee.
> 
> Some dialogue taken from 1x22: The Source Awakens.

Macy sat on her bed, thinking about the conversation she heard between her sisters and Harry. It hurt to think her sisters were scared of her, but they just did not understand. She was doing all of this for them. They would understand one day.

Suddenly, she felt something. No, someone. “Come in,” she said as Harry opened the door. “I sensed that you were about to knock. Guess that’s another one of my powers.”

Harry hesitated for a moment. “May I?” he asked, motioning to the door. As she gave permission, he closed the door and moved over closer to her. She felt like he was still nervous around her. “I just wanted to check in, see how you were feeling. This must be overwhelming,” he said, trying to gauge her reactions.

“For you all more than me, I think,” she replied. “I know Mel and Maggie were making excuses to leave the house. I heard them talking about how they want their mother back because they’re scared of me. Like I’m some monster hiding under the bed.”

He sighed and sat down next to her on the bed. “Macy, they’re not scared of you. They want to help you, because you’re their sister, and we all love you.”

He reached out to grab her arm. As he looked into her eyes, she heard his voice say, “ _And god help me, I’m in love with you._ ”

She raised her eyebrow. She was looking right at him. His lips definitely did not move. But that must mean... Oh, she could read minds now, too.

He gave her a confused look. “What? What happened?”

“Nothing. Look, I know you all think I’m making a mistake by taking on the Source, but I can handle it, I promise,” she said.

“I suggest you take it slow when using these new powers. Mel told me two patients Galvin saved when he sacrificed himself have died,” he said, trying to communicate the severity of Macy’s actions.

“Well, then, I will bring them back.” She knew she could do this. No one had to stay dead with her new powers. All it took was a simple readjustment of the timeline.

“Macy, destiny will keep reasserting itself.” He wanted to continue, but he received a text from Maggie and decided he needed to make a quick exit. He claimed it was Women’s Studies business, but Macy knew he was lying. Even without her ability to read his mind, it was written all over his face. He had a terrible poker face when it came to her.

She sat there for a moment, thinking about all the lies her sisters had told her. They didn’t want to include her in their conversations anymore. They were talking about her to Harry behind her back. With every moment, Macy became angrier. How could they? After all their talk about the importance of their sisterhood, Mel and Maggie were trying to push her away? Macy took on the Source for them. She would show them.

She portaled to Harry’s office. Just as she expected, Harry and her sisters were there. She was certain they were plotting to take these powers from her. Without giving them a chance to explain, she started to lay into them.

“You’ve all been lying to me. You’re all scared of me,” Macy yelled. “I’m tired of you sneaking around behind my back. I told you I would fix things and I’m going to do that.” As Harry and her sisters tried to stop her, Macy turned and portaled away.

She landed back in the attic and paced back and forth. She would show them she knew what she was doing. Taking on the Source didn’t have to be a bad thing. In her heart, she was still Macy. She could fix everything. She just had to come up with a plan.

The first step was to save Marisol. If their mom was alive, surely her sisters would be more understanding. She pictured the night Marisol died and found herself transported back to that moment. She stood on the doorstep to her house and took a deep breath in anticipation. She was finally going to meet her mother. She would save her and finally get the complete family she always wanted.

Marisol answered the door and almost immediately fell to the floor. Maggie and Mel ran into the room, terrified. Macy started to cry as her sisters ran away from her in fear. How could this have gone so wrong? There had to be something she could do. There was something she was missing.

The necromancer’s curse! How could she have forgotten about that? She would just have to go back further in time. She would find Knansie and fix the curse.

Macy pictured Knansie and found her at a grocery store. She looked up to see a familiar face looking back at her. “ _Oh shit, Harry’s here_?” She didn’t think he would know her at this point, but she was still trying to figure out the rules of time travel. She didn’t know how far back she had gone or what timeline she was in. She just needed to get Knansie and get out. As Harry approached her, she grabbed Knansie’s arm and orbed them away.

Knansie told Macy she could just change the sacrifice, which would allow Marisol to lay eyes on her without dying. She thought of what an equal sacrifice would be. Macy thought back to Mel yelling at her. The problem had always been Mel. Mel never let her in. A simple adjustment and Macy would finally have her perfect family, sans the one sister who never seemed to want her there anyway.

Macy opened her eyes and found herself sitting in the living room, working on paperwork for the lab. She felt Marisol coming before she saw her.

She was instantly filled with a sense of calm. She did it. After 28 long years, she finally got to have her mother. The longer she sat, the more memories began to form. She looked up and saw Maggie saying goodbye to their mom. She searched her memories and found few happy ones containing both her and Maggie. She was sad, but then remembered she got to keep her mother. She could feel the closeness she had to her mother, which was what she had always wanted. She never really wanted a sister, after all. It was perhaps an unintended sacrifice, but maybe it was worth it.

Macy smiled to herself. “It’s just me and mom here.”

Maggie glared at her sister. “Yeah, just the way you like it, weirdo.” She turned and left.

Marisol came in and stood next to Macy. “Promise me you won’t stay up too late working? They work you too hard at that lab.” She ran her hands along her daughter’s hair and leaned down to press a kiss against the crown of her head.

“I promise, mom,” she looked up at her mother. “I love you.” She smiled, feeling a sense of peace for the first time since she had taken on the Source. This was everything she wanted. She finally had her mother in her life.

Marisol left the room. A few minutes later, Macy started to sense something was wrong. Something felt unbalanced. There was a different energy present. She knew how Harry and Maggie’s energies felt. There was an added heaviness, like another person.

Mel. She must have found a way back to Hilltowne. No, Macy had worked too hard and had sacrificed too much for her to come back and screw everything up again. She felt anger bubbling up, like it was about to explode out of her. Macy got up and let Mel’s energy guide her.

She portaled into the room just as she heard Mel say they have to stop her. “Stop me?” she yelled. “No, you’re not going to stop me. I am trying to fix everything. Why can’t you see that?”

Macy was furious. She put out her hand and channelled all her rage into force choking her sister. “You aren’t supposed to be here.” She looked to her sister and Harry. “She’s the sacrifice to keep Mom alive.” She felt her voice turn demonic as she yelled at Mel, “STAY AWAY FROM US!”

Harry jostled Mel enough that it broke Macy’s connection. He grabbed the younger sisters and orbed away.

“Damn it!” Macy yelled to the empty room. “No, no, no. They can’t do this!” With every breath, she felt more and more out of control. Mel coming back was going to ruin everything. Macy had restarted the timeline so many times, trying to find the right combination of changes that allowed her to have the reality she had yearned for. Everything was finally balanced. Mel was not going to ruin this for her.

She portaled back to the attic in a storm of energy, landing just slightly too close to Marisol. The blast from the portal sent Marisol through the window and she died, just as she had so many times before. Macy looked out over her mother’s lifeless body. The same one she had seen so many times before. How could this keep happening? Macy was doing everything right. She was trying to save everyone. Why couldn’t she save the one person she wanted the most?

She sat down against the wall and started to cry. Harry and her sisters orbed into the attic. She looked up at her family.

“I just wanted mom to stay alive,” Macy said, her voice thick with tears.

“But she died anyway, didn’t she?” Harry said, approaching the eldest sister carefully.

“I can bring her back,” Macy said, standing up, preparing to go back in time again. She would take what she had learned from the previous attempts and rectify the situation. This was just like an experiment. She needed to change a couple of variables, but everything would be okay.

“Macy, no. The truth will always win out. Can’t you see that?” Harry pleaded.

“Macy, please, he’s right,” Maggie moved closer to her big sister.

She felt broken. She didn’t know how many more times she could watch her mother die. She ran through all the variables. There was only one possibility left. She had tried to add things to the timeline. She had tried to remove things. There was only one thing left she hadn’t tried to remove.

“I tried. I tried to help us all be together. I thought bringing mom back would help you feel safe. But she still died.” She looked at her sisters helplessly. “And then I decided I just wanted her. Why should I be the one who had to go without? Maggie, you were always the one who welcomed me, and accepted me. But how much more should I be expected to take? Sooner or later, you’ll realize you’re better off without me. I’m the problem that needs to be fixed.” As Macy talked, she felt herself become more and more numb. She realized the only way to keep her mother alive was to remove herself from the timeline entirely.

Macy heard her sisters and Harry yelling for her. She knew what she had to do, though. She snapped her fingers and went back to this last moment in time.

She went back to the moment Marisol revived her with the necromancer. She changed it so Marisol never even contacted Knansie. As Macy began to mourn the life she would never have, she felt reality shift again. This time, it wasn’t her doing.

She was back in the living room with her sisters and Harry. She had no memory of changing any of the other realities. There had been no fights with her sisters. She had not changed the sacrifice to banish Mel. She was back in the original timeline.

“Niko is going to be fine. I just made that happen,” Macy excitedly told Mel.

“Macy, we need to talk,” Maggie interrupted.

“Oh, and I wiped the memories of everyone in town. According to them, none of this ever happened,” Macy continued.

“Maybe you should sit down so we can discuss these new powers,” Harry said, moving toward Macy.

“No time, Harry. There is one more thing I need to fix,” Macy said, starting to leave the room.

“Macy, stop!” Mel yelled.

“Excuse me?” Macy said, her eyes flashing red with anger.

“You have to listen to us,” Mel said, trying to get through to Macy.

“I don’t have to do anything,” Macy replied, defiantly.

“Yes, you do! That power inside of you is more than any one person can handle, which is why mom wants you to have this,” Mel held out Macy’s necklace. “She wants us to use it to help you remove the Source.”

Macy could not take it anymore. She was tired of Mel trying to control her. “Mom’s not here!” she yelled as she summoned all of her energy to throw Mel across the room. She immediately shrank back, scared by her actions. “I don’t want to hurt you. I am in complete control.” If she said it enough times, maybe she would start to believe herself.

Mel sat up. “Macy, we know that you are hurting. But we are not going anywhere. No matter what.”

“Oh, you will,” Macy said, resigned. “Everybody does eventually. You’re scared of me. I’m scared of me. Why wouldn’t you leave?”

“Because we’re your sisters. And we love you,” Maggie said.

“I don’t believe you,” Macy said, softly. She waved her hand to the side. Harry and her sisters disappeared.

Macy sat and cried. Then she started to get angry. Her sisters kept trying to get her to change herself for them. If they really loved her, then they would have been okay with her powers, no matter what they were.

She ran up to the attic and started to pace back and forth. A manic energy overtook her. She felt the darkness taking over. The dark thoughts she tried tirelessly to keep at bay all bubbled to the surface. “They don’t understand me,” she kept repeating to herself. She looked up to see Harry and her sisters orb back into the attic.

Macy’s anger created a storm around her. Papers flew everywhere. She stood in the center of a whirlwind borne from her emotion. She had never felt so out of control in her life. She didn’t know how to make it stop.

“Just, just leave me! It’ll be so much easier,” Macy said, terrified of what was happening.

“Macy! Stop!” Harry yelled at her.

“I can’t! It’s too strong,” Macy finally felt the last vestiges of her control slipping away. The wind was blowing so forcefully that Harry, Mel and Maggie were grasping onto the walls to avoid being blown away.

“We’re your sisters. We’re not going anywhere,” Maggie yelled back.

For the first time, Macy let herself truly hear what they were telling her. She finally allowed herself to feel their love. As it sunk in that her sisters were not abandoning her, the storm died down. The lightness of their love outweighed the darkness of the Source. Harry, Mel and Maggie were able to stand upright. They moved towards Macy.

“I’m so sorry for everything,” Macy told her family.

“It’s time to let all the hurt go,” Mel said, hugging Macy.

“We’re with you,” Maggie added, joining her sisters.

“Always,” Harry said, placing his arms around his three charges.

Macy stood and let their love flood over her. For the first time, she let herself believe that she was truly their sister. She let herself accept their love.

“I need to move on. Without all this power,” Macy said, from the center of the hug. “I need your help.”

“I know just the spell,” Harry said, smiling down at Macy.

Harry prepared the attic for the ritual to remove Macy’s powers. The sisters stood in a triangle and said the words that would take away the powers of the Source. As she felt the powers leaving her body, she felt lighter. She didn’t have the unbearable heaviness of pure evil weighing her down any longer. The sisters agreed to each hide their piece of the Source in a different section of the world.

Harry had already taken Mel and Maggie to hide their pieces of the Source. Their memories were wiped of the information. They went downstairs to give Macy and Harry some privacy.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked her.

“Yeah, I think I finally am,” she said, smiling softly.

He put his arm out for her to grab. “Well then, where are we going?” He smiled at her.

“Haiti. After all the sacrifices Galvin made, I can’t think of a safer location to hide this. His ancestors will watch over it.”

“That’s beautiful, Macy. Let’s go,” he said, orbing them to Port-au-Prince.

They walked around until they found an old hotel. Macy walked down the alleyway and found a loose brick. She pulled it out and placed the piece of the Source inside. Her fingers lingered over the weathered brick, as if she were saying goodbye to that piece of her. To the Source. To Galvin. Harry gave her a moment and then they orbed back.

He sat down on the couch next to her. He put his hand out to wipe her memory of the trip to Haiti.

“Wait, Harry. Before you take this memory, there’s something I want to say,” she said, grabbing his hand.

“Okay, we’ve got plenty of time,” he reassured her. “There’s no rush.”

“I have always been a lonely person. Part of that is being an only child. Part of that is just my nature, I guess. It has been really hard to adjust this year to having this family all of a sudden. After my dad died, I had just resigned myself to the idea I was destined to be alone. And as much of an adjustment it has been for Mel and Maggie to be in my life, it’s been just as much of one to have you in my life. Harry, I could never have survived this year without you, without your guidance and your support. You’ve become my best friend. And I am so thankful for that,” she said, starting to tear up as she talked.

He sat silent for a moment, trying to figure out exactly how to respond to her heartfelt confession. “Macy, I’ve had quite a few charges over the years. And I get attached to them, certainly, but you and your sisters are the first ones who have felt like family. So, trust me when I say, I wake up everyday thankful to have the three of you in my life.” He pulled her in for a hug and held her for a moment, if only to hide the fact that he was starting to cry as well. They pulled back from each other and looked into the other’s eyes.

“Now, are you ready?” he asked.

She nodded. He reached out and took away the memory of Haiti. After it was all over, she went downstairs to finally get some sleep.

He sat upstairs in the attic, looking out the window. He thought to himself how much he valued Macy’s friendship, but also how he longed for a deeper connection with her. He reminded himself he needed to let go of that wish. A relationship with his charge was forbidden. And even if he was an independent Whitelighter now, that rule existed for a reason. Just for tonight, though, he let himself imagine a world where Macy wasn’t just his friend. He pictured a life with her and fell asleep with a smile on his face.

As Macy slept downstairs, she dreamt of Harry. She reimagined the conversation they just had. Instead of ending with a hug, he softly kissed her on the lips. She heard his voice saying the words he thought just a few days earlier. She bolted upright in bed, a slight sheen of sweat across her brow. Oh no, this could not be happening. She could not be falling for Harry.

* * *

A few days later, Macy went to the cemetery with her sisters and Harry. He came over to the headstone with them to say goodbye to Marisol and then left the sisters alone to grieve privately.

He looked across the graveyard at Macy as she was saying something to her sisters. He imagined it was probably something similar to what she had told him in the attic, based on the expressions on her face. Ever since that night, she seemed to be pulling away from him again. He knew it was foolish to imagine she would ever return his romantic feelings, but he missed talking to his friend the past several days.

He was lost in thought and did not hear the sisters approaching. He heard Maggie say something about going to see Parker and Mel going to see Niko. For the first time since they returned from Haiti, Harry and Macy were alone.

She was looking at him with a nervous expression on her face. “Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.

“I’m not,” she laughed nervously.

He moved toward her and put out his arm for her to take. He orbed them home, hoping to spend some more time with her while her sisters were out. As soon as they arrived, however, she said she was tired and wanted to go lie down. He was disappointed, but he understood. She had been through a lot these past few weeks. Surely, she must be exhausted.

As she walked up the stairs, she stopped and turned around. “Hey, Harry, there’s a memorial service tomorrow for Galvin. You’ll be able to go with us, right?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it,” he said, relieved that she still wanted him near her.

As they sat through Galvin’s memorial service the next day, Mel and Maggie sat on either side of Macy. They held her hands through the whole service. They walked home and Harry stayed close to Macy. She had not had a breakdown for Galvin yet. He was anticipating it and he wanted to be there to help her through it.

They approached the house and Chloe intercepted them. A flood of magical creatures came pouring out of the house. They thanked the Charmed Ones for defeating the Source. Maggie and Mel went inside and immediately started drinking with Maggie’s favorite Goat Man. Macy hung back a moment.

“Are you okay?” Harry asked. “I don’t think anyone would blame you if you wanted some time alone.”

“Thanks, Harry. I think I’m going to go upstairs and relax for a while.”

“Would you like any company?” he asked, hopefully.

“Only as long as you promise not to make fun of me for watching Heaven’s Vice,” she said with a shy smile.

“I promise to keep my comments about the inane dialogue to myself.” He raised his hand as if he were taking an oath. She laughed softly and nodded for him to follow her.

She went into the bathroom and changed into a pair of leggings and her favorite t-shirt. She climbed under the covers of the bed and pulled up her laptop. Harry sat perched on the edge of the bed, not wanting to be presumptuous.

“Harry, you can lay down next to me. It’s fine,” she laughed.

He took off his shoes. He loosened his tie and took off his suit coat. He pulled down the covers of the bed and sat down, making sure not to get too close to her. He was here to support his grieving friend. He had to keep himself under control.

“So, how are you doing with everything? With Galvin?” he asked, his brow furrowed with concern.

She paused for a moment, trying to figure out how exactly to phrase her feelings. “I’m at peace with it. Galvin made his decision. He wanted to sacrifice himself to save others.”

“I know you cared for him a great deal.”

“I did. But we hadn’t been together for a while. He couldn't accept the demon side of me, so we never would have worked romantically. But he’ll always hold a special place in my heart. He was the first man I was ever with and that will always mean something to me. I had already moved on from the idea of him as my boyfriend. Now, I mainly just miss him as a friend.”

He reached out and squeezed her hand. She looked into his eyes, thankful to have him in her life. Since the night in the attic, she had been having incessant dreams about him. Kissing him in the kitchen while they cooked together. Him putting his hands on her hips while they were brewing a potion. Simple, almost innocent flashes of a life where he was more than her Whitelighter. She had to keep reminding herself he was her friend. They could never be anything more than that.

“Now, come on, you promised to watch Heaven’s Vice without making any comments,” she scooted further under the covers and pressed play on the laptop.

He leaned back against the headboard. They watched six episodes of Heaven’s Vice that afternoon. Harry would not be able to tell anyone a single detail of those episodes. All he would be able to describe was the lyrical lilt of her laugh at the brothers’ antics, the scent of her lavender body wash, and the soft smile on her face when she would look at Harry every now and then.

* * *

Over the next week, all three of the Charmed Ones processed their grief in different ways. Maggie mourned the loss of her relationship with Parker by watching romantic comedies and eating vegan ice cream. Mel let go of the possibility of any future with Niko by throwing herself into meetings with the magical community. Macy came to terms with the loss of Galvin and her Source powers by working overtime at the lab and running every day.

Macy continued to be haunted by nightly dreams of herself and Harry. Just flashes of different scenes, although they were progressing in terms of physicality. Her straddling him in the attic and kissing him. Him lying in bed with her and running his fingers through her hair. Him finding her in the bath and joining her. Every morning, she jolted awake with the images burned into her memory. She had been trying to avoid being left alone with him, not certain she would be able to control her actions. But at the same time, she longed to be closer to him. She could no longer deny herself the truth that she wanted Harry Greenwood. She wanted him badly.

That Friday night, the family sat down to pizza and a movie together. Maggie slammed her hands down on the table and stood up.

“No, you know what? We have spent the past two weeks moping around this house. Yes, we have all lost someone important to us, but we also survived. We freaking defeated the Source of All Evil and lived to tell the tale,” Maggie said. “Now, I don’t know about you all, but I want to go out tonight and celebrate the fact that we are all alive. Who’s with me?”

Maggie looked at her sisters and Harry. Macy and Mel looked at each other.

“Look, I know what Maggie is like when she gets like this. It’s really just easier to go along with it,” Mel said, shrugging.

“Alright, fine. What did you have in mind?” Macy asked, reluctantly.

“I vote we go dancing. Get all dressed up and just live our lives,” Maggie said, excitedly.

Neither Macy nor Mel were huge fans of clubbing, but they decided to indulge their sister for the night.

“Alright, fine. A sentence I never thought I would say, but here it is. Let’s go dancing, Maggie,” Macy said.

“Yes, yes, yes! Trust me. Ooh, can I pick out your clothes and do your makeup? Please, it’ll be so much fun,” Maggie said, looking to her sisters.

“I guess since we’ve entered this far into another dimension, I might as well say yes,” Macy shrugged.

“Why the hell not?” Mel agreed.

Harry stood up and cleared his throat. “Well, since you ladies seem to have other plans for the night, I think I shall return to my condo.”

“Harry, you were a part of defeating the Source, so you’re going out with us for our celebration of life. I won’t take no for an answer,” Maggie said, crossing her arms and fixing Harry with a stare that could make a demon wither. “And I’m picking out your clothes, too. No arguments.”

“Fine, I will go out with you ladies,” Harry agreed. “But I can pick out my own clothes.”

“I get veto power,” Maggie negotiated. “No three-piece suits. No ties. Wear something you’ll be comfortable moving around in because you are going to dance with us.”

“I don’t dance, but I can abide by your proposed dress code,” Harry said. He orbed back to his condo while the girls got ready.

He wasn’t sure about this. He imagined Macy on the dance floor. He didn’t know if he was going to be able to restrain himself. The past couple weeks, he felt his attraction to her growing stronger. Every time she looked at him, he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless. He took a deep breath and looked into his closet. He thought of Maggie’s guidelines, but he also stopped to consider what Macy might like. He pulled out something more casual and orbed back to the house to wait for the others.

Maggie picked out a black dress with thin straps and a rectangular neckline for Mel. The dress hugged Mel’s curves and came down just below her knee. Maggie pulled Mel’s hair back into a tight bun.

For herself, Maggie picked out a sleeveless black halter dress with a bubble hemline. The dress ended halfway up her thighs. She straightened her hair and pulled it back into a high ponytail.

Maggie started digging around in Macy’s closet.

“I swear, do you own anything that doesn’t seem like my grandma would wear it?” Maggie said, sorting through Macy’s clothes. She stopped suddenly. “Wait, omigod, what is this? Why do you even own this? And why don’t you wear it every single day?”

Maggie pulled out a red dress. It was one-sleeved with a tight bodice, a ruffle down the front, and the hemline falling halfway down the calf.

“Oh, Maggie, no. I got that for some gala a few years ago. It’s way too much for tonight,” Macy said, trying to grab it and put it back in the closet.

“Nope, this dress is straight fire. I demand that you wear it tonight,” Maggie said, thrilled with her find.

“Ugh, fine. The things I do for you,” she said, grabbing the dress and going into the bathroom to change.

Maggie then pulled Macy’s hair back into a high ponytail and a long braid down her back. She gave her a heavy smoky eye and a bold red lip. Even she had to admit that Maggie knew how to make her look good.

The sisters went downstairs to meet up with Harry, who had been waiting for them for the past hour.

“Alright, Harry. Let’s see what you’ve got. And don’t think I won’t send you back home to change if I see a single blazer, pocket square, or Windsor knot,” Maggie yelled as she walked down the stairs.

Harry stood in the living room in black jeans and a dark blue polo shirt. Macy had only seen him dressed this casually once before, the night they went to the film student’s screening. She forgot how hot he had looked that night. It paled in comparison to tonight, though. The shirt clung tightly to his chest, emphasizing the broadness of his shoulders. She wanted to reach out and run her fingers across his stomach. She knew he had to have some muscles under his clothes. She had felt his sturdy body against her before whenever he had to carry her anywhere. She longed to see if the reality met her fantasies. She started to have glimpses of her dreams. She pictured herself ripping his shirt off and kissing along his stomach.

When Harry saw Macy, his jaw dropped. This was the boldest outfit he had ever seen her wear. The dress was molded to her curves. He had seen glimpses of her body before and knew how attractive she was. This was the sexiest he had ever seen her look before and he loved it. He wanted to kiss along her exposed collarbone. To wind her long ponytail around his hand and pull her close to him. He didn’t know how he was going to survive the night.

Eventually, Harry realized that Maggie had been talking to him. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” he said, trying to cover the fact he had seemingly blacked out for the past minute.

“I said, I approve of your look. And you should dress like this more often. I can’t believe you even own jeans. Relaxed Harry is my new favorite,” Maggie said.

“I agree,” Macy said, her voice taking on a seductive tone only Harry noticed. Her eyes had not left his since she walked downstairs. She noticed how her appearance had affected him. If tonight was about celebrating life, maybe she should just throw caution to the wind. Based on the way his eyes were traveling along her body, she guessed he would be on board with her wishes for the night. It didn’t have to mean anything. She would just follow her instincts tonight, instead of overthinking everything.

“Yes, well, you ladies all look lovely tonight,” he said, though his eyes never left Macy’s face. “Shall we?” He put out his arms, so they could all orb together.

They landed in the alley next to Maggie’s favorite club. She pulled out her fake ID and they got in line.

Maggie and Mel were talking about something they had heard on the news, maybe? Harry honestly had no idea. They could have been talking complete gibberish. Macy was standing next to him. He felt like every nerve ending was on fire. Her body was a magnet, pulling him closer.

“So, am I going to get you out on the dance floor tonight?” she asked, turning towards him.

“Perhaps if a nice waltz comes on,” he joked. “I have no idea how to dance to this music.”

“Well, if you wanted me to, I could probably teach you,” she said, her voice dropping an octave. He was certain this was a trap. Some alternate reality. Perhaps a demon had captured him and was torturing him with the one thing he wanted the most. There was no way all the stars could have aligned for her to want to be with him in such a manner.

“Get some alcohol in me and we’ll see,” he said, leaning closer to her. If she was going to flirt with him, he was going to go down this rabbit hole with her. He didn’t know what was happening tonight. She had never been so bold before. He let go of any questions and followed her lead.

They reached the front of the line and the bouncer let them in. They all made a beeline for the bar. As soon as they had their drinks, Maggie and Mel headed straight for the dance floor. Macy hung back with Harry. They found a dark booth and sat down next to each other.

He sipped on his scotch and soda while she drank a tequila sunrise. She turned toward him.

“Harry, have you ever done a proper tequila shot?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.

“It has been quite some time,” he said, turning his body towards her.

“Will you do a shot with me? It’s just sad if you do tequila shots alone,” she pouted slightly.

“Oh, fine. Let’s do this.” He had no idea what had gotten into her tonight, but he was going to take any opportunity that presented itself.

She signaled the waitress and got two tequila shots, a saltshaker, and two lime wedges.

“Okay, so first you lick the salt. Then you down the shot and bite the lime wedge. Watch me.” She wet the inside of her thumb and forefinger before shaking out the salt. She licked it off before downing the shot and sucking the lime. Harry watched her, fascinated. He had never seen this side of her before. “Now, it’s your turn.”

Harry licked the same part of his hand as she had. She poured a little bit of salt on the spot and handed him the shot.

“So, salt, drink, lime,” she said, smiling wickedly. “You ready?”

He followed her instructions. He could feel the tequila burning on the way down. Even though he knew there was no way the tequila could have hit him that quickly, his head was already swimming with alcohol and arousal.

“That tasted terrible,” he laughed.

“That’s why you do more because eventually, you don’t realize how awful cheap tequila tastes,” she said, laughing. She signaled for two more shots for each of them.

They downed the next two shots in quick succession. She laughed loudly at a terrible pun he made and placed her hand on his arm. He leaned in and placed his hand on her knee, his eyes darkening as he stared intently at her. The space between them closed with every breath.

She ordered two more shots for each of them. She watched as he licked the salt from his hand, imagining his tongue on her body. She nearly suggested on the next shot, he pour the salt in the crook of her neck and lick it off her. She imagined the feeling of his velvet tongue on her flushed skin. He was starting to get just a little bit of scruff along his jaw. She could almost feel the scratch of it along her skin. She knew she was playing with fire, but she couldn’t stop herself.

He watched as she poured another shot down her throat. He longed to pull her closer and taste the cheap tequila on her lips. He felt pleasantly buzzed at that point and was well on his way to being drunk. He knew he needed to slow down. Soon, he was going to do something he would regret.

She looked at him intently, trying to decide between ordering another shot for each of them or pulling him onto the dance floor. She decided she needed to feel his hands on hers. The anticipation was killing her.

“Now, are you ready for me to teach you how to dance?” she said, grabbing his hand.

“Ah, I see. The shots were all just a ruse for you to force me to dance and make a fool of myself,” he laughed.

“I will neither confirm nor deny that,” she smiled. “I just really want to dance with you.”

He looked over at the dance floor. The younger sisters were both occupied with new companions for the night, so he didn’t have to worry about them asking questions. He could feel the bass of the music thrumming through his body. He imagined the feeling of Macy’s body pressed against his and decided it was exactly what he wanted tonight.

“Alright, teach me how to dance,” he said, his voice rough with desire and alcohol.

She beamed with excitement and grabbed his hand, leading him to the center of the dance floor.

“Dancing to this music is easy, Harry,” she said as she took his hand and placed it on her hip. “You just let the beat guide you and move however you want. There are no steps to remember. You just feel the music and move.”

She stepped closer to him until she was right up against him. Her breasts were pushed against his chest. She smirked at him and turned around so that her back was pressed to Harry’s chest. She looked over her shoulder at him. His lips were inches away from hers. She took his arm and pulled it around her body.

A new song started and he focused on the beat, letting it guide his movements. He was certain they were sloppy. He didn’t have the best sense of rhythm to begin. Add in five tequila shots, a scotch, and the heady intoxication of Macy’s body. He was certain he was a mess.

_“Havana, ooh na-na..”_

As the music enveloped them, she grinded back against him. “See, you just move back and forth in time with the music,” she threw her head back against his shoulder. Her hips begin to move in soft circles. She pulled his arm tighter around her. He moved his hips in time with hers.

He was now convinced a demon had taken him and was torturing him. Macy was plastered against him and he couldn’t do the one thing he wanted to do. With every movement, he had to fight harder to hide his arousal. She continued to move in time with the song.

_“Half of my heart is in Havana…”_

She placed her hand on the back of his and guided it along her torso. He longed to move just an inch or two higher and grab one of her delicious breasts. Or move down and run his hands along her bottom. As she leaned to the side, her neck was even more exposed. He knew he needed to step back, but he couldn’t do it.

_“I knew it when I met him, I loved it when I left him..”_

He lowered his face against her, the scratch of his stubble running along the soft skin of her neck. Her breath caught and she instinctively thrust back against him. She raised her hand up and grabbed the back of his head, clutching his hair in her fingers. The curve of her ass directly hit against his erection. There was no way she could have missed it this time. She pushed back against him and just slightly shook her hips. The friction of her movement against him felt like the sweetest torture. She had to know exactly what she was doing.

Sure enough, she looked over her shoulder with a wicked smirk. His face was still lowered against her neck. Their lips were mere millimeters apart. All he had to do was lean in and close the gap. He was about to do just that when she spoke. “Harry, what do you say we get out of here tonight?”

“Macy, I need you to be very clear in what you’re asking me because I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding,” his voice was thick with desire.

She turned around and pressed her chest against him. She whispered directly into his ear. “Harry, I want you to take me back to your condo where neither of us have to worry about being overheard. Then I want you to fuck me until I’m screaming your name.” She stepped back and looked at Harry. “Was that clear enough for you?”

He could only nod. She sent a quick text to her sisters, saying she had a headache and Harry was going to take her home for the rest of the night. They ran out into the alleyway and orbed back to his condo.

As soon as they arrived, she launched herself at him. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips against his. She quickly ran her tongue along the seam of his lips, requesting entry into his mouth. He gasped. She pressed her tongue against his. She continued to press herself closer against his body, the feeling of his arousal hitting over her clothed center. She reached down to pull his shirt out of his pants and threw it over his head. When she reached for his belt buckle, Harry placed his hands over hers, stopping her movements.

“Macy, Macy, stop. Where is this all coming from?” He had to know. He knew how he felt about her, but she had never given any sort of inclination she felt the same way.

“Harry, I can’t stop thinking about you. And tonight, I just want to feel alive, so please, just give me tonight,” she gasped, running her hands along his chest. She let her hands drop further, hovering just over his erection.

He took a deep breath. He wanted this so badly. She had asked for tonight. Maybe it didn’t have to stop there, though. Maybe tonight could just be the beginning.

He nodded and unzipped her dress. It pooled around her ankles. She stepped out of it. He stepped back and took in the sight of her standing before him in just a bra and underwear. He didn’t know what alternate dimension this was, but he never wanted to leave it.

“Now, take me to bed, Harry,” she requested as she grabbed his hand and led him back to his bedroom.

He stood next to his bed with her and kissed her once more. He let his hands run along her body, memorizing the feeling of her skin under his fingertips. He walked her backwards until her knees hit the edge of the bed. He leaned her back against the pillows. He kicked off his shoes as she unzipped his pants and pushed them down. He stepped out of them and climbed onto the bed, angling his body over hers.

He ran his fingers along her stomach, stopping just underneath her breasts. Her breath hitched, hoping he would move those last millimeters and touch her when she wanted him to touch her the most.

Finally, Harry moved his hands up further. He reached around Macy’s back to unhook her bra and tossed it aside. He took one breast in his hand and gently squeezed. He ran his thumb around her nipple, feeling it harden. He leaned down and kissed the other breast, his teeth grazing her other nipple. She threw her head back and let out a quiet moan. He moved along her collarbone, alternating between featherlight kisses and gentle bites. He reached down to remove her underwear.

He continued to move down her body, kissing along the inside of her thighs. She moved against him, trying to get him closer to the spot where she wanted his mouth.

“Patience, my love,” he chuckled. “I’m getting there, I promise.”

“Well, could you hurry up a little bit? I’m dying up here,” she said, breathless.

“Oh, but what a sweet death it will be,” he said, positioning his mouth right over her sex. She could feel his breath along her opening. The heat from his mouth along with the anticipation of what was coming was almost more than she could take. She thrust her hips up just slightly, trying to get him closer. He chuckled and held her down against the bed for just a moment. His lips traced along her outer folds. His tongue softly separated her lips and he tasted her juices for the first time.

Finally, his lips closed around her clit and he gently sucked. Her back arched off the bed in pleasure. She was nearly at the edge. If he so much as touched her again, she would fall apart.

He gently pushed one finger inside of her, followed quickly by a second. He leaned back in to place a soft kiss on her clit again and she felt that familiar unraveling. She could feel her walls pulsing as she started to shake. She was so glad they came back to Harry’s because there was no way she was going to be able to stay quiet tonight. He crooked his finger and she fell over the edge. Her entire body began to spasm. She had never had such a powerful orgasm. She screamed his name as she came down from her high.

“Harry, Harry, please,” she begged as she pulled Harry back up over her. “I need you inside me.”

“Your wish is my command,” he teased. He reached over to push on a condom and poised himself over Macy. “Are you absolutely sure about this, love?”

“Yes, Harry. I promise you. I’m sure,” she said, tilting herself up to meet him. “Now, please, let me make you feel as good as you made me feel.”

He pushed inside of her. She gasped, needing a moment to adjust to his girth. He rolled them over, so she was on top of him now. He wanted to be sure she felt like she was staying in control.

As she moved up and down on top of him, he thrust upwards to match her tempo. He watched as her breasts bounced up and down with the rapid movements, reaching out to squeeze them.

He could feel her tightening around him again. She threw her head back and let out a loud moan. He could feel the sound of it vibrating throughout her body. She clenched herself around him. He was nearly at his edge. He leaned up and pushed them back over so that he was on top of her. They were moving against each other frantically, no longer able to think about their movements. They were each acting on pure instinct. He reached down between them to caress her clit.

As soon as his fingers touched her, he felt Macy come apart around him. She went rigid, let out a scream, and then went limp against him.

“Think you can do that for me one more time?” he asked, continuing to push in and out of her. He slowed down for a moment to check on her. His control was nearly gone. He was so close.

“I don’t know. I can definitely try, though,” she said, gasping for air. She met his eyes, her pupils blown with desire.

Harry continued to push deep into her. He buried his face in her cleavage and felt himself reach the edge. He couldn’t hold out any longer. A few moments later, he felt himself spilling into her as her walls fluttered around him for one last time.

The two fell against each other, trying to catch their breaths. They were both soaked in sweat. Finally, he rolled over onto his back and put his arm over his face.

“I must say, my opinion of tequila shots and dancing has totally changed after tonight,” Harry said.

Macy burst out laughing. She rolled over into his chest and put her arms around him. “I’m definitely a bigger fan of clubs now,” she said, leaning back to look him in the eyes. She leaned in for a gentle kiss.

“I’ll be back in just a moment,” he said. He got up to clean himself up a bit and grab a glass of water. She stepped into the bathroom and came back a few seconds later. She glanced nervously over at him, not certain what to do now. Everything had changed between them. She had been so certain of her actions a few minutes ago.

“Will you stay the night with me?” he asked, with a hopeful look on his face.

“Sure, I’m definitely too tired to head home,” she agreed, climbing back into bed. She wanted to stay wrapped up in his arms for just a while longer.

He pulled her back into his chest and put his arms around her. He gave her one last kiss goodnight as they fell asleep in each other’s arms. Harry didn’t know what all this meant, but he was hopeful for tomorrow.

The next morning, Macy awoke with a start. What had she done? She started to panic. She was certain she had ruined her friendship with Harry. He was her Whitelighter. If things went south between them, she wouldn’t just lose her best friend. Maggie and Mel would lose him, too.

She hadn’t thought through any of the possible consequences last night. But now in the light of day, she realized what a monumental mistake she was making. She couldn’t do this.

She looked back at him once more as he slept peacefully. She carefully climbed out of bed, put on her clothes, and left the apartment without a word. She snuck back into the manor, climbed into her bed, and cried. Last night had been so wonderful. But it could never happen again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! If you liked it, please leave a comment or kudos. It makes my day to get them. I plan on updating weekly on Sundays. 
> 
> Links for images of the looks referenced when they went to the club:  
> Maggie: https://twitter.com/sarahjeffery/status/1185423121525788674
> 
> Mel: https://www.stylebistro.com/lookbook/Little+Black+Dress/9fZ3V_hqjLe/angle/igsXrEoMpAT


	2. Chapter Two: Safe Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Macy deal with the aftermath of their night together. Tensions run high until their lives are completely upended as they are transported to Seattle. The Darklighter makes his first appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who left kudos or comments on the last chapter. I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to read this. 
> 
> As always, a huge thank to my fantastic beta katasstropheee. 
> 
> Please note the added content warnings in the tags.
> 
> Some dialogue taken from 2x01: Safe Space.

Harry awoke the next morning with a smile on his face. Last night was amazing. Every fantasy he had about Macy paled in comparison to the reality. 

He looked over at the other side of the bed and saw that it was empty. He looked around and saw her clothes were missing. His heart sank. He was hoping to ask her out on a real date. He wanted to pursue an actual relationship with her. Her fleeing the apartment while he slept did not seem like a good sign. 

He got out of bed and looked around his condo, hoping she had maybe just woken up early and felt weird being naked. But there was no trace of her anywhere. He thought back to last night and tried to figure out where everything had gone wrong. He sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. How could he get so close to her and have it all taken away so quickly? 

He felt Mel yell for him. He didn’t know if he was ready to go back to the manor. Macy would be there and he wasn’t ready to see her yet, not if she was going to tell him their night together had been a mistake. His duty had to come first, though. His charge needed him. 

“There you are, Harry!” Maggie said as he arrived. “You ran off so quickly last night. I didn’t even get to see you out on the dance floor. Did you have fun?”

He looked around for the eldest sister. “Um, yes. Thank you very much for allowing me to tag along.” 

“Of course. You’re a part of the family. You’re not tagging along. You belong with us,” Maggie told him.

He smiled. If nothing else, he was glad to still have Maggie and Mel in his life. Even if their companionship was not the one that he so desired. “So, what did you ladies need?” 

“We wanted to start coming up with a plan for meeting with the magical communities,” Mel said. “Come up with a reading list to get caught up on all the politics of everything. Figure out where our biggest priorities should be.”

“What Mel means is that she wanted to do all that,” Maggie said, opening the refrigerator. “I’m hungover and need some breakfast and aspirin before we start working.” 

“Yes, of course,” Harry said, sitting down at the table. “Where is your sister? Should we wait for her before we start coming up with a plan?” He hoped he was being nonchalant. 

“I haven’t seen her yet today,” Maggie said, wrinkling her nose. “Let me go upstairs and check on her. I know she had a headache last night.” 

Harry tried to fight the blush rising on his cheeks. He couldn’t expose his secret. If Macy wanted her sisters to know, it would be her secret to tell. 

Mel started to ask questions about the relationships between pixies and satyrs. He tried to focus on the questions Mel was asking, but he kept looking over to the doorway, hoping to see Macy enter. His hopes sank further when Maggie came back downstairs without her. 

“She said she still has a migraine and just needs a day to stay in bed,” Maggie said, pouring smoothie ingredients into the blender. “Poor Macy. I guess she can’t kick that headache from last night.” 

He knew full well that Macy had no migraine. She was trying to avoid him. As much as it killed him, he would honor her wishes. He just wished she would talk to him instead of pushing him away. If he had done something wrong or had done something to offend her, he wanted the opportunity to correct his mistake and seek her forgiveness. 

For the next week, Harry caught no more than a passing glimpse of Macy. She was the first person out the door in the mornings and the last one home at night. She put in ridiculous hours at the lab. She went for runs early in the morning. Any time he was at the house, she was nowhere to be found. Every day that passed crushed his hopes a little more. 

Macy knew she had to stop avoiding Harry. She owed him an explanation, not that she really had one. She had instigated everything that night. She knew how he felt about her. The guilt was eating away at her. But all she could think was how badly things would end. And she knew they would end. Everybody always ended up leaving her. 

She threw herself into work as a distraction. On the rare occasion she was home, she sat in her room, reading journal articles about new techniques in genetics research. Everything was done in an attempt to avoid Harry.

She continued to have dreams of him every night, except now she knew what he really felt like. How he smelled. How he tasted. How his arms felt around her. The sounds he made while making love to her. Her subconscious was torturing her. 

* * *

It was another week and a half before Macy found herself alone with Harry. They were scheduled to meet with the satyrs about a territory dispute. Mel got called in for a shift at the Haunt and Maggie was at summer rush, so it was just the two of them. The satyrs were now 15 minutes late. Harry and Macy had been sitting in an uncomfortable silence the entire time. 

Harry’s phone dinged with a text message. “Well, it looks like they aren’t coming after all,” he said, reading the message. “They seem to have worked it out themselves over a drink.” 

“Oh, well, okay then,” Macy said, jumping up. “In that case, I’m going to head to the lab. I’ve got a few samples I want to process.”

“Macy, wait,” he said, not wanting to let this opportunity slip away. This was the closest he had been to her since their night together. He didn't know when he would have another chance like this. “Can we talk? Please?” 

She looked over at him. His eyes were pleading with her to stay. She pulled her arms around herself, fighting the urge to reach out and run her fingers through his hair. Every instinct was telling her to run.

“Sure, Harry.”

“Have I done something to offend you?” he said, his voice breaking. “I keep thinking back and trying to figure out what I did wrong. It felt like we had both enjoyed ourselves that night.”

“No, Harry, you haven’t done anything,” she said, desperate to take away his guilt. “I just... I realized how complicated everything would be. And I...I got overwhelmed, I guess. I mean, you’re our Whitelighter. If anything went wrong between us, the repercussions would be huge.” 

“Macy, we can work through all of that. It would be complicated, yes, but it could also be amazing. You and I work so well together,” he said, pleading with her. 

She stepped back. She was so close to giving in. She wanted him so badly. He was right. They worked perfectly together, in every sense. 

“If that is something you want, we can make this work,” he said, stepping closer to her and reaching for her hand. “Is this something you want?” 

He looked directly into her eyes. He looked so hopeful. She wanted to say yes. Yes, this was something she absolutely wanted, but she couldn’t do it. She thought about what would happen when she inevitably screwed something up. She thought of what her sisters would say. The potential consequences were too severe. 

“No, Harry, I don’t want that,” she said, looking down. She couldn’t look at him. She couldn’t see the moment she broke his heart.

The last shred of hope he had was snatched away. 

“Yes, well, then I will respect your wishes.” He stepped back away from her. “Um, I think I’m just going to head out for the rest of the day. Just, I guess, let me know if you need anything.” He orbed away without looking at her. He wouldn’t let her see the tears in his eyes. 

As he left, she sat down and began to weep. How could she have screwed up this badly? She wasn’t just jeopardizing the professional relationship between Harry and her sisters. She was also losing her best friend in the process. 

She went up to her room. She didn’t know how long she was going to be able to occupy the same space as him. Something had to change. She pulled up the application for the Bioethical Research Lab in Ann Arbor. An old classmate from Columbia worked there and had messaged her about the job opening. It was a long shot, but maybe this was exactly what she needed. 

* * *

Macy and Harry continued to avoid each other for the next week. He was only at the manor when summoned by Mel or Maggie. Macy had not called for him since before The Incident. The next night was Maggie’s birthday, though, and she was demanding everyone’s presence for an “Epic House Party.” They were both dreading it. 

Macy found herself standing near the alcohol. If she was going to survive the night, then she was going to need to drink. She glanced over at Harry. He had taken to dressing more casually the past few weeks and she was a fan of this more relaxed version of him. Tonight he was in a black turtleneck and a gray suit jacket. She longed to take him back to her room and recreate their night together. She had to keep her wits about her, though. 

He stood over on the other side of the room, observing the partygoers, specifically Macy. She was dressed casually in a pink and black sleeveless top and jeans. He thought she was the most beautiful person in the room. He always thought that, though. As much as he missed the possibility of a romantic relationship with her, he also just missed his friend. He wanted to share the latest gossip from the Women’s Studies department. Or tell her about a scientific news story he heard on NPR. Or talk about her feelings on the twist at the end of season two of Heaven’s Vice, which he absolutely was not watching without her. He wanted to hear what had been going on in her life for the past several weeks. 

Maybe tonight he would try to talk to her. He took a drink and started to walk over to her, just as Maggie got to the bar. He sighed. He had waited this long. He could wait until Maggie walked away. 

“What are you doing?” Maggie said as she walked over to Macy.

“I’m pouring out the exact number of shots I can take before I say or do something I regret,” Macy said. It was exactly one shot less than the night of the club. 

“Oh, I don’t need drinks for that,” Maggie laughed.

Macy tossed back one of her shots. “Oh, what the hell. I got offered a job,” she said, trying to gauge Maggie’s reaction.

“What?” Maggie said, excitedly. 

“My dream job, actually, at a genetics lab doing bioethical research, and um, I’m taking it.” She looked down at the counter, nervously. 

“Omigod, Macy! That is amazing! Why didn’t you say anything? We have to celebrate!”

“It was a long shot. And it’s at the University of Michigan. Ann Arbor,” she said, looking up at her younger sister.

“Oh, but that’s two hours away from here.” Maggie’s face fell.

Harry watched the conversation between the two sisters. He couldn’t hear what they were saying. Macy looked nervous and Maggie seemed disappointed by something. He wanted to go over and find out what was happening, but he felt Mel calling for him. He orbed up to the attic, deciding he could find out later.

“They’re not going to understand,” Macy said, looking down again. 

“Honestly, I think you and I could both go AWOL for a month, and Mel wouldn’t notice. She’s gone full boss,” Maggie said, rolling her eyes. 

“She really has.” Macy was more focused on Harry, but she just went along with Maggie’s assumption. She was concerned what her younger sister would think, but it paled in comparison to her fear over the Whitelighter’s reaction. “And you know, I can still come home on weekends. It’s just... after everything that’s happened...”

“You need a fresh start.”

“Exactly. Will you keep it to yourself? I want to tell Mel and Harry myself.”

“As long as you come dance with me to celebrate,” Maggie said, dragging her sister into the living room. 

Macy laughed and danced with her sister. With all she had been doing to avoid being alone with Harry, she had also been pushing her sisters away. She missed this. 

A little while later, Mel walked in. She initially seemed annoyed by the party, but the sisters wore her down and got her to drink and dance with them. It was the freest Macy felt since the night of the club. She never noticed Harry watching her affectionately from the other side of the room. 

He hadn’t seen Macy smile and laugh like that since their night together. He orbed back to his condo, deciding he would try to talk to her tomorrow. Tonight, he wanted that smile to stay on her face.

* * *

The next morning, Macy and Maggie were passed out in the living room. They woke up to the sound of Mel cleaning up. Loudly. 

“Ugh, why are you up already?” Maggie grumbled. “It’s too early for you to be this loud.” 

“She’s right, Mel,” Macy said as she moved to bury her face against the back of the chair where she had slept. “Hate early. Must kill early.” 

Mel continued to pick up trash. “It is not early. You had your fun for your party. But I have a list on my desk that requires attention. Now, we need Harry.” Mel yelled out for their Whitelighter.

“So, we’re just never supposed to have fun?” Maggie said as Harry orbed into the living room. “Geez, no wonder Macy’s bailing on us.” 

Maggie’s eyes got wide, realizing what she just said. Mel and Harry both looked at the oldest sister. Mel looked angry, while Harry looked betrayed. 

“I’m not bailing,” Macy said, looking at Harry. “Um, I got a job. My dream job, actually. But it’s in Ann Arbor.” Harry’s face fell. She hated herself for breaking his heart. Again. 

“We have a job here, though,” Mel said, raising her voice.

“No, you have a job,” Macy said, finally looking back at her sister. “And you’re good at it. You’re happy with it. But I’m a scientist, and being in charge of magical creatures was never part of my plan.”

“So you’re bailing on us.” Mel continued to angrily pick up trash.

“No, not bailing,” she turned back to Harry again. “Just living my life.” 

He turned to walk away. He couldn’t stand here as Macy was taking steps to walk out of his life completely. 

He stopped as the ground began to shake. Pictures rattled against the walls. Books fell from the bookshelves. A lamp moved across the table before falling to the ground. The lights flickered on and off.

“What the hell is that?” Macy asked, concerned. “We’re in Michigan. We don’t have earthquakes here.” 

The glass in the front door shattered as something or someone kicked it open. A hooded figure appeared in front of them with its hand raised, prepared to attack. It threw a knife of some sort towards Maggie. She screamed and jumped out of the way. 

The sisters dropped to the ground in shock for a moment before getting up and running towards the kitchen. The figure pulled out another blade and threw it in their direction. Macy spotted two knives lying on the kitchen counter and telekinetically threw them at the figure’s chest. It dissolved into smoke before reappearing at the top of the stairs. 

“Ladies! Use the Power of Three,” Harry yelled at them.

“Potentia Trium!” the sisters yelled. The energy blast stopped the figure in its tracks for a moment. It gave Harry enough time to orb over to the sisters and then orb them to the attic.

“What the hell was that thing?” Maggie asked, looking at the door. “It barely flinched at the Power of Three.” 

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Harry said, trying to go through the lists of demons that he knew. That thing was unlike anything he had ever seen before. He tried to stay calm for the sake of the sisters, but inside, he was terrified. He was supposed to be the one who knew everything. Their walking Wikipedia, as Maggie had deemed him. What use was he if he didn't know what this new enemy was? “But quick, we’ve got to seal this door.”

They heard the sounds of the figure running up the stairs. The sisters held the door shut as Harry quickly sealed it with a protection spell. They weren’t fast enough. The figure kicked the door open, advancing towards Harry. 

“Macy! Save the Book of Shadows!” he yelled. 

Macy attempted to use her telekinesis to pull the book towards her. As soon as she lifted it, however, the figure conjured a firebolt and threw it directly into the ancient tome. She watched as centuries of magical knowledge was incinerated instantly. 

A portal opened on the other side of the attic. The force of it was enough to knock the figure off its feet for a moment. 

“Ladies, go! You have to go through the portal,” he yelled. “Quickly, before it closes!” Mel and Maggie jumped through, nervously looking back at their mentor.

“Harry, come on!” Macy yelled at him. 

“I’ll hold him off,” he said, trying to project an air of false confidence. “You have to jump.”

“I’m not leaving you,” she yelled back, her voice shaking. Her eyes met his. It was the first time she had really looked at him since their night together. For weeks, she had been pointedly avoiding looking at him, not trusting herself with her actions if she let her gaze linger for too long. 

“Macy, you have to jump!” he pleaded. He had to keep her safe. He wanted to run to her and pull her into his arms, kiss her once more, just in case it was the last opportunity he would ever have. There was no time for that right now. 

“Harry, no! I’m not leaving without you,” she tried to run towards him. He put out his hand to signify she needed to stop. She froze in place. 

“You have to, Macy. You have to go and save yourself. Now!” he begged her. He didn’t know if he would survive this, but he had to do whatever he needed to in order to save her. His purpose in life was to protect her. 

She continued to hesitate. She could not let him die. She thought back on a year’s worth of memories with him. Afternoons pouring over spells together. Late night talks over tea when neither of them could sleep. His shy smiles in her direction when he thought she wasn’t paying attention to him. Laying in bed and watching Heaven’s Vice while she tried to keep her hands off of him. Their one glorious night together. Suddenly, she hated herself for wasting so much time. 

“Macy, quickly! The portal won’t stay open forever,” he pleaded. 

She stayed frozen in place. She needed him to jump with her. This could not be the last time she saw him. She couldn’t leave things so uncertain with him. 

“Macy, please! I will find you. I promise I will find you!” he said, his voice cracking on the last word. He looked over his shoulder to see the figure getting back on its feet. He orbed behind the figure as it lifted a crossbow out from under its cloak. Harry wrapped his arm around the figure’s neck and pushed its arm down, so the weapon was no longer pointed at the eldest sister.

She finally turned and ran towards the portal.

“You better find us, Harry Greenwood,” she cried. “This is not how our story ends.” She jumped through the portal. The figure fired the crossbow at Macy as she jumped. Harry saw a dart enter her leg as the portal closed around her. 

“No!” he yelled. The shock of seeing the dart hit her knocked him off balance enough that the figure broke his grasp. It knocked him onto his knees. It pulled out a knife and drove it into Harry’s chest. The world went dark around him and he fell to the ground. 

* * *

The sisters landed on a concrete floor. They each had the wind knocked out of them for a moment. Finally, they were able to stand up and look around. It had the look of a small warehouse. There was a large map display on the wall. 

“Where are we?” Maggie asked as she looked around.

“Welcome to the Command Center,” a robotic voice said. “If you are here, it means an existential threat has made extraction necessary. In compliance with Elder Order 257, your auras have been stripped for your protection. Please wait for further instructions from your Whitelighter.”

“Where is our Whitelighter?” Mel asked. “I thought he would have come through the portal with you, Macy.”

“No, that thing had him,” Macy said, starting to cry. “He couldn’t get away. He told me to jump and then he just said that he would find us.” She felt frantic. “Harry! Harry! Damn it, Harry! Where are you?!” She continued to scream out Harry’s name, but he never appeared. “Where’s my phone? Do any of you have a phone? Harry!” 

Mel saw a large book over on the table and went to it. “This must be the Book of Elders,” she said, flipping through the pages. “But it’s written in a completely foreign language. Great.” 

“So what exactly do the Elders mean by extraction? And where the hell are we?” Maggie said, looking for an exit. 

“Guys, focus! We have to find Harry,” Macy said, pacing back and forth. She started to feel faint. “We just...We just…” She fell to her knees. 

“Macy!” Maggie ran to her sister. “Macy! What’s wrong?”

Macy reached down to her leg. She felt blood and pulled up the edge of her pants. “He...He shot me. With a dart.” She passed out.

Mel ran over and started shaking her sister. “Macy! No, no, no, Macy! You have to wake up!” 

Maggie continued to yell out for Harry. 

“Maggie, stop!” Mel yelled, frustrated. “He’s not coming. Harry’s not coming for us.” 

“But...but Harry always comes when we call,” Maggie said, starting to cry. “Mel, where is Harry?”

“I don’t know, but something is terribly wrong.” 

Macy started to wake up. She reached out for her sisters. “Guys...I need...help,” she said, faintly. “You need to get me help.” 

“No, we’re not leaving you,” Maggie said, grabbing her oldest sister’s hand. 

“You have to. Figure out where we are. Find something. I’ll stay here. Promise I won’t go anywhere,” Macy said, laughing weakly. 

“Maggie, she’s right. If we can’t find anything in here, then we need to find something outside of this room,” Mel said quietly.

“We can’t leave Macy here. What if we can’t get back?” 

“You have to try. Please,” Macy said, starting to fade out of consciousness again. 

“Fine. But if Macy dies, I’m never forgiving either of you.” Maggie’s eyes filled with angry tears. 

“I will try my hardest not to die,” Macy said, her eyes staying shut. “I’ll keep calling for Harry.”

As Mel and Maggie left the Command Center, Macy continued to yell out for her Whitelighter.

“Harry. Harry, please. Harry, I need you,” Macy said, her voice growing weaker with every word. She heard a whisper somewhere behind her. 

“Macy,” the voice whispered. “Macy, love, it’s me. You need to come home. I need you to come home.” 

Her brow furrowed. She knew that voice. “Harry? Harry? Is that you? Why won’t you come for me?” she asked weakly. 

“Where are you? Tell me where you are and I’ll come to you,” his voice continued.

“I don’t know where I am,” she said. “Just find me. Please. I need you.” She tried to stand up, but she fell back down. She tried to stand up again. The room blurred in and out of focus. She walked over to the stairs. It took her several tries, but she managed to crawl up the stairs to the door. Finally, Macy was able to heave open the large door and walk into what appeared to be a utility closet. She stepped through another door. Just as she took a step out into the hallway, Mel and Maggie came running over. They grabbed her just before she could fall again.

“Macy, stop,” Mel whispered. “Let’s go back inside. We’ve got a first aid kit.” 

“Mel,” Maggie said, pointing at Macy's arms. Her veins were starting to turn green. “I don’t think our first aid kit is going to fix this.” 

“Let’s just get her back inside,” Mel said, lifting up her older sister. “We don’t need anyone asking questions about this.”

They walked back through the door and saw a brick wall where another door had been previously. Macy sat down on the ground and slumped over. 

“Macy, Macy wake up.” She heard a voice and opened her eyes to see Harry in front of her. 

“Harry? Harry? Is that really you?” She placed her hands on his face and kissed him like she had wanted to back in the attic She felt him freeze beneath her lips for just a moment before reciprocating. She broke the kiss and held her face against his. Something felt wrong. “I was so worried. I kept calling out for you. What took you so long?”

“It’s a long story, my love,” he said, cradling her face against his palm. “I’m here now, though.” 

She finally felt more clear headed. She looked into his eyes. She saw the lust in them she had seen during the night they spent together, but she didn’t feel any of his warmth. She didn’t know what was wrong, but this didn’t feel like her Harry. 

“Where are Mel and Maggie?” she asked, nervously looking around.

“They went home. You’ve been out for a while,” he said, moving to put his arm around her shoulders and sit next to her. 

“Um, I’m sick. Can you heal me?” She paused as he made no move to heal her. “Harry, what’s wrong? You seem different.”

“Oh, love, I am different,” he asked, moving his face closer to hers. “Do you like it?” 

She looked in his eyes. Something felt wrong. This version of Harry felt more sinister. She swallowed quickly and lied. “Yes, I like it.” She feared saying anything different would anger him. 

“Good. Now, let me take you home, my love,” he said. His lips were right against hers, but not quite touching them. It would be so easy for her to close the gap. She had wanted to kiss him again for so long, but not like this. This felt wrong.

Macy jolted awake and saw her sisters. “Where is he?” she looked around, frantically. “Where did Harry go?” 

“Macy, what are you talking about?” Maggie asked. “We haven’t found him yet.” 

“Descubre el camino secreto,” Mel recited as a door revealed itself in the bricks. 

The younger sisters helped Macy back into the Command Center. Her breath started to grow ragged again as she struggled to stay awake. 

Maggie noticed a red dot light up on the map. She went to the control panel in front of the map and moved it around until the light was selected. “Vermont?” she muttered. “Why do we need to go to Vermont?”

“Maggie, we need to stay here and help Macy,” Mel said, standing next to Maggie and trying not to let Macy overhear them. 

“We don’t have anything more here that can help her. All we’re doing now is sitting here and watching her die. Maybe there is something in Vermont that can help save her. Or maybe we can find Harry there. Anything has to be better than sitting here and doing nothing.” 

Mel paused for a moment, thinking through their different options. “Fine. Let’s go.”

Maggie pushed the button in the middle of the control panel. A portal opened. A small marble floated up from a bowl of liquid next to the button. Maggie grabbed it, assuming it would be important. She and Mel grabbed Macy and walked through the portal. 

* * *

They found themselves outside a small bed and breakfast. The sisters nervously looked at each other. They walked towards the front door and paused.

“Why would the board bring us here?” Maggie asked, puzzled. 

Mel looked up and saw a symbol of an eye made out of stained glass. “That symbol was in the Elders’ book,” she said, relieved. “The Elders must have brought us to witches, so they could help Macy.”

Maggie looked at her sister, nervously. “I don’t know. My instincts are still telling me to run far away.”

“No, that has to be it. Come on, let’s go,” Mel said, pushing the front door open. 

Mel called out to see if anyone was home while Macy sat down on a bench just inside the doorway. 

“Macy, Macy, my love, where are you?” she heard Harry’s voice continue to whisper to her. She looked around, hoping to see him, but he was nowhere to be found. 

“Harry...” she whispered back.

“We were brought here for a reason,” Mel said, looking into the living room. She had to trust in the Elders. They had been deposited here with no explanation. She had to believe there was a purpose and that purpose was to help them. If it wasn’t to help them, the possibility terrified her. It meant they were truly flying blind for the first time since becoming witches. They had no Whitelighter to guide them. Her oldest sister seemed to have been poisoned. She was petrified and desperately trying to believe in a greater purpose. 

The sisters gasped. Hanging from the ceiling were two middle-aged women. In the middle of their foreheads, Mel saw a green dot, exactly like the wound on Macy’s leg. Spelled out on the wall in blood were the words, “Die Witches!” 

The sisters looked at each other before walking into the room. Mel climbed on a chair to cut the two witches down, unable to watch their lifeless bodies swinging back and forth for even a moment longer. Maggie helped her settle the witches on the ground and gently pushed their eyes shut, hoping to give them peace in a small way. 

“The red lights on the board,” Mel breathed out. “It led us to two dead witches. What if the board is like an alarm system? It leads us to witches who are in trouble.” 

“They must have something here that can help us,” Maggie said, beginning to get frantic. “A healing potion or something.” 

“Look,” Mel pointed out the spots on the women’s foreheads. “The assassin must have been here, too. It’s exactly like Macy’s spot.” 

“I don’t like this at all,” Maggie said, looking around. “Let’s get out of here.” The sisters looked up at the sound of footsteps in the hallways above them. 

Mel and Maggie went to lift Macy up from the bench. Maggie let out a soft squeal as a rat ran underneath her feet. Mel looked around and saw another rat scurrying towards the front door. The sisters moved further into the house and ended up in the kitchen. They watched from the doorway of the kitchen as the rats morphed into men. Maggie pulled the kitchen door shut while her older sisters dove behind a counter for protection. 

The men walked into the kitchen. The three Charmed Ones looked at each other, scared to even breathe for fear it would reveal their locations. The kitchen wasn’t big, though. It was only a matter of time before they were found. They breathed a sigh of relief as the men walked out towards the living room. 

Macy started to feel faint again. “Mel, Maggie, you have to get out of here. Just leave me,” she said, leaning her head back against the counter. 

“What? Are you crazy?” Mel whisper yells. “We’re not leaving you behind.” 

“Macy, it’s time for you to come home.” Macy heard Harry’s voice whispering to her. The voice was getting more insistent. He sounded almost angry with her. “Just tell me where you are.”

“Harry,” Macy softly gasped. She started to stand up.

“Macy, what are you doing?” Maggie grabbed Macy’s wrist and tried to pull her back down.

“It’s Harry,” she said, shrugging off Maggie’s hand. “He’s calling for me. I have to go to him.” 

At the sound of the sisters’ movements, the men came running back into the kitchen. Maggie looked around quickly and found an aerosol can of rat poison. She sprayed it directly into one of the demon’s faces. He screamed and disintegrated into ash. Maggie did a small victory dance as Mel was trying to hold off the other demon. Maggie tossed her the spray can. Mel went to spray it, but nothing came out. She looked around frantically for any other potential weapons. The man reached out and grabbed her by the hair. She began to scream as she struggled against the demon. 

Macy saw her sister’s struggle and a sense of panic enveloped her. She had already lost Harry today. She couldn’t lose Mel, too. She put out her hand and a fireball burst out directly at the demon. He dissolved in front of her.

“Macy!” Mel and Maggie yelled. “Where did that come from?” 

“I don’t...I don’t know,” Macy said. Her eyes rolled backwards and she fell to the floor. She began to shake. The assassin’s poison coursed through her veins, traveling upwards to her face.

“Macy! Macy! No,” Mel went to her and grabbed her. “You can’t die on us. This is not how we lose you.”

“Damn it, Harry!” Maggie yelled out. “Where the fuck are you?” 

Harry finally orbed into the kitchen. He saw the sisters sitting on the ground, holding Macy in their arms. The sight of his love unconscious in front of him was more than he could take today. He had been so relieved to finally feel her presence when she used her powers. If he found her only to witness her death, he knew it would end him. 

“Where have you been?” Mel said, angrily. “We’ve been calling for you all day.”

“I couldn’t hear you. I’ve been looking everywhere for you, but I didn’t feel anything until Macy used her powers just now,” Harry said. “Now, let me heal her.”

He held his hand over her face and focused his energy. As he healed her, the poison from the assassin’s dart flowed from Macy up into his body. He could feel it coursing through his veins. Every part of him felt like he was on fire. He wanted so badly to break the connection, to make the burning stop. But he had to stay focused. It was the only thing keeping Macy alive. 

He paused to catch his breath. She was still unconscious. He began to feel desperate. He just found her. He could not lose her again. Not like this.

“No, no, Macy,” he ran his fingers through her curls. He wanted to lean down and kiss her forehead, caress her face, hold her against him, but that would cause too many questions from Mel and Maggie. “No, you have to wake up. Come back to me, Macy.” 

After what felt like an eternity, her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at Harry’s face and smiled. 

“Is it really you?” she asked, weakly. 

“Oh, love, who else would it be?” He smiled back at her. Macy saw the warmth behind his eyes. She could tell this was her Harry, the one she loves. She didn’t know who or what the other Harry was, but she knew this man in front of her was the real one. 

Harry and Mel helped Macy stand up. “Now, let’s orb the hell out of this rat’s nest,” he said, making sure all the sisters had a good hold on him. He focused his energy on their destination, but nothing happened.

“Uh, Harry, might want to put a little hustle in it,” Maggie said, looking around to see if any demons were coming.

“I’m trying, but it’s not working,” Harry said, frustrated. “We’re going to have to find another way home.”

The four ran out the back door and went towards the spot where the portal dropped them. There was nothing to be found. 

“Where is it?” Mel yelled. 

“I don’t know!” Maggie yelled back. “This was the spot where we got out.”

Macy looked back and saw a demon getting closer. “Uh, guys, we need to have a plan now.”

“Think, the Elders would have given you a way to make the portal reappear. When you went through the portal, was there anything else?” he said, speaking quickly as the demon got closer still. 

“Um, oh, the marble!” Maggie exclaimed as she reached for her pocket. “A marble floated out of a bowl and I put it in my pocket.” 

“That’s it!” Harry yelled. “Oh, thank god. Throw the marble, Maggie, quickly!”

She threw the marble and the portal appeared. The four turned back to look at the demon, which was quickly approaching them. Mel and Maggie jumped through first. 

“Harry, should we try to vanquish him?” Macy asked, not wanting to leave a demon alive after it had just tried to kill her and her sisters.

“There’s no time. You’re still weak. I can’t orb. And the portal will close momentarily,” Harry said, grabbing her hand. “Now, let’s go.”

As they jumped through the portal, Macy heard the demon yell, “There’s a war going on. We’re coming for you, witches!”

* * *

They landed in the Command Center. Harry looked around, taking it all in.

“Okay, Harry,” Maggie said. “When we landed here, there was a robot voice that told us to await further guidance from our Whitelighter. So, I really hope you have some guidance for us.” Her brow furrowed. 

“Your auras were stripped to make you untraceable. That’s why I couldn’t hear you when you were calling for me. Since Macy has demon blood, she must have retained her demon powers, but your witch powers are gone.”

“Well, how do we get them back?” Mel asked, panicked. 

“The Elders envisioned this as a free pass. A chance to leave your lives as witches behind.” He looked at Macy. 

“But what if we don’t want to leave our lives behind?” Maggie asked. 

“I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that,” he said, looking over at Mel and Maggie. “I do know that it isn’t safe to return to Hilltowne, though. That...assassin could still be there.”

“Yeah, what even was that thing?” Maggie asked. 

“Did you get a look at its face?” Mel asked. 

He looked over at Macy before glancing down at the floor. “No, its hood never came off its head,” he said, quietly. 

Macy knew he was lying about something. He always avoided eye contact when he was lying. She didn’t know why, but she would find out. 

“Harry?” she asked, her head tilting to the side as she studied his face. He looked up at her. “You never told us what happened to you while we were separated.”

“Ah, yes. Well, I kind of died,” he said, reaching up to scratch his head.

“What?” Maggie yelled. “What do you mean you kind of died?”

“I mean, just that. The assassin stabbed me in the chest. When I came to, I was in the grave where my human body was buried. I got out and tried to seek help from my fellow Whitelighters, but I couldn’t find any of them. They are all dead.” 

“Holy shit,” Mel said. “So that means?”

“That I am the last Whitelighter,” he said, the gravity of the situation finally sinking in. 

“Look, I don’t know about you all, but I could use a drink,” Mel said. “I saw a bar upstairs. Let’s go get some beers.”

“Right there with you,” Maggie said. 

Mel and Maggie headed for the door. Harry started to follow, but Macy grabbed his hand to hold him back for a moment. “Harry?” she asked. “Are you all right?”

He gave her a sad smile. “I don’t know how to answer that right now, but thank you for asking. Let’s go get a drink with your sisters.” He gave her hand a soft squeeze before letting go. 

* * *

The sisters and Harry walked into the bar upstairs. Mel went over to grab four beers while the others claimed a table. 

“Guys, maybe this is our chance,” Mel said, sitting back down at the table with everyone. “Our chance for a fresh start. We can just walk off into the sunset with new identities. No more fighting demons. Just get a chance to be normal people again.” She looked at Macy. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Harry looked at her, nervous about her answer. If she gave up her life as a witch, there would be no more need for her to have a Whitelighter. There would be no reason for her to keep him in her life.

“No, not like this,” Macy said, glancing over at Harry. “There’s too much danger out there. The world needs the Charmed Ones. Who else is going to protect these witches?” She smiled. He had never felt so relieved.

“It’s time for us to step up,” Maggie agreed. “After all, aren’t we still in charge?” 

“If not us, then who?” Macy smiled at her sister. 

“So, what do you say, Harry?” Mel said, looking over at Harry, who was still caught up in looking at Macy. “I think there’s a chair in that dusty command center with your name on it.” 

Macy reached out and grabbed his hand. He looked down at their conjoined hands and then looked up into her eyes. “We can’t do this without you, Harry,” she said quietly. 

He smiled quickly and then looked over at Mel and Maggie. “You had me at dusty command center.” 

“Alright then, a toast,” Maggie said as she raised her bottle. “To the power of three.”

“No, not three,” Macy corrected her. She looked over at Harry again. “The power of four. This is the magic right here.” 

The four clinked their bottles together and each took a sip.

“Now, we just have to figure out where to live,” Mel said, groaning. “I don’t think the Command Center came equipped with beds.” 

“I have the solution for that,” Harry said. “Don’t worry.”

* * *

They finished their beers and he led them home. As they approached a vacant lot, he pushed through the construction netting around it.

“Harry?” Maggie questioned. “I’m not opposed to sleeping outdoors, but um, what the hell?”

He turned around and gave the sisters a mischievous smile. He started to step up as if he was walking on stairs. With every step, more of their old house became visible.

“This house will always be bound to you,” Harry said. “So, even though we’re in completely unfamiliar territory, you will always have this as your home base.”

The sisters eagerly ran up the stairs into their home. All of them were ready to sleep in their own beds. They looked around, realizing the mess from that morning was still there. But that was a problem for tomorrow’s Charmed Ones. 

Mel and Maggie both headed to bed right away, exhausted. Harry went up to the attic, since that would be his new home. His condo had not traveled through the portal, so he was officially the fourth resident of the manor. 

Macy went to her room and changed into her pajamas. She started to lie down and try to sleep, but her mind would not quit running. She needed to talk to Harry. They needed to put everything out in the open. She walked upstairs and found him sitting on the couch, looking at the mess around him. 

“Harry?” 

“Macy, I’m sorry. Was I being too loud?” 

“No, not at all. May I?” She pointed at the spot on the couch next to him.

“Of course,” he scooted to the side, allowing her to have room to sit. 

“I just wanted to check on you,” she said, turning to look at him. “You seemed...off, earlier.”

“Ah yes, well, it has been a rather trying day,” he said, looking down at the floor.

“Harry?” she asked, trying to get him to look at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” He looked up at her, unable to look her directly in the eye.

“I know you’re lying right now. You can never look me in the eye when you’re lying. So, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t quite know yet,” he said, finally looking directly at her. “But I promise you, I will tell you when I’m ready to talk about it. I’m just not there yet.”

“Okay,” she said, realizing that would be the most she got out of him tonight. “Harry, I was so scared I was never going to see you again.” She started to tear up. 

“Oh, Macy,” he said, reaching for her hand.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she said, a stray tear starting to fall down her face. 

“I’ve missed you, too,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “All this past month, I’ve been dying to talk to you about everything, but you made it clear you didn’t want to hear what I had to say.” He looked down at the floor again.

“Harry?” she said, putting her hand under his chin to lift his gaze back up to her. “I’m sorry. I handled everything so poorly. In the process, I might have lost my best friend.” 

“You didn’t lose me, Macy,” he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “You could never lose me.” 

“I think maybe that portal did give us a fresh start after all. Can I have my best friend back now?”

“There is nothing that would make me happier.”

She beamed at him and he pulled her in for a hug. He had longed to hold her like this again for weeks. She rested her head against his shoulder. Perhaps it lasted longer than a standard friendly hug, but neither was ready to let go of the other yet. 

As she sat there in his arms, she thought back to the interaction with her vision of him in the Command Center. She still didn’t know if it was a hallucination. If it was, she didn’t know why her subconscious was imagining a Harry that left her so uneasy. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she knew he knew more than he was letting on. 

For now, though, she was content to stay here in her best friend’s arms, as she denied herself the opportunity to let him become something more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this or have any thoughts about the story, please share them in the comments! It always makes my day to read them. Otherwise, I'll be back with chapter three next Sunday!


	3. Chapter Three: Things to Do in Seattle When You're Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry confesses the truth about the assassin to the sisters before he and Macy head out to rescue a witch in trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with every chapter, a massive thank you to my beta, katasstropheee. 
> 
> Some dialogue borrowed from 2x02: Things To Do In Seattle When You're Dead.

Harry and Macy sat upstairs in the attic talking for another hour. She told him about the breakthroughs she had with her research over the summer. He told her the latest gossip from his Women’s Studies co-workers. She reveled in the feeling of just being able to talk to him again. She never would have forgiven herself if she lost this forever. 

Eventually, her head started to drift to the side. “Macy, you’re exhausted. Go to sleep,” he said, patting her on the leg. “I’ll be here tomorrow. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I guess we have both had a long day,” she agreed, standing up and stretching. 

Her shirt rose up just a little bit, exposing just a sliver of her skin. He looked away. If they were going to be friends again, he had to figure out how to get his attraction to her under control. 

“Good night, Harry,” she said, heading for the door. “I’m so glad you found us again.”

“I would have searched the entire earth until I found you and your sisters,” he said, sincerely. “My life is incomplete without you…all of you.”

She went to her room and collapsed against her pillow, falling asleep almost instantly. 

The dream started about two hours after she fell asleep. She was getting used to her nightly visits from the Harry that lived in her subconscious. In this dream, she stood in her room, looking at herself in the mirror. He walked in behind her. The mood in the room instantly got darker. He was normally more cautious, more hesitant. This Harry just walked in like he belonged in her room. 

“Harry? What are you doing here?”

“I had to see you,” he said, reaching out to push her hair behind her ear. This Harry had the same sinister feel as the one in the Command Center. Normally, when Dream Harry touched her, she felt warmth and desire flood her body. She wanted to pull back from this version. She didn’t want him to touch her. He felt cold, almost calculating.

“What’s going on?” she asked, pulling herself back from him. “What do you need?”

“You, Macy,” he said, moving closer to her. He had her backed up against her dresser. “I need you.” He reached out and pushed her wrap off her shoulder. 

“No, Harry,” she said, looking around for an escape. “We can’t.”

“Oh, but we can,” he said, placing his arm around her back and pulling her closer. “You are mine.” His face was centimeters away from hers. Her stomach was in knots. Her heart belonged to Harry, but not this version of him. He leaned closer and placed his cheek right against hers. “Now, love, tell me where you are.”

She jolted upright in bed. Lately, she had been looking forward to her nightly dreams of him. As torturous as they were, it was the sweetest form of torture. This dream left her uneasy, though. She felt like she needed a scalding shower to wash away the feeling of his hands on her. She looked down and saw the injury from the dart on her leg. This sinister version of Harry had only been there since the assassin hit her. She needed to talk to her Harry. She needed to see that he was still the Harry she knew and loved. 

She walked up to the attic and knocked on the door. It took a few moments, but Harry came over and opened the door. He was wearing a tight maroon t-shirt and black sweatpants that sat low on his hips. His hair was standing straight up.

“Macy, what’s wrong?” he asked, blinking to get the sleep out of his eyes. “Are you okay? Are your sisters okay?”

“They’re fine,” she said, pulling her wrap tighter around herself, stopping herself from reaching out to touch him. She hadn’t seen him dressed this casually since their night together. “I just...I had a nightmare and I needed to see you.”

His eyes softened. She instantly felt at ease. This was her Harry. He hadn’t been replaced. She didn’t know how she thought he could be. 

“Oh, Macy,” he said. He wanted to reach out and hold her, but he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. “Would you like a cup of tea?” 

“Yes, please,” she said, in a small voice. She felt silly for waking him up over this, but she knew she wouldn’t have relaxed until she saw him. 

He grabbed his robe and went to the kitchen with her. She sat at the counter as he prepared the kettle. “Now, what was this nightmare about?” he asked, leaning against the counter and looking at her.

“Um, it was actually about you,” she said, nervously playing with her hair. She hadn’t thought this through all the way. 

“About me?” he asked, confused. “About what happened back in Hilltowne?” 

“No, you came to find me in my room. You kept pulling me closer and telling me we had to be together,” she said, realizing she was explaining everything wrong.

“And the thought of us being together was something you classify as a nightmare?” he said, feeling slightly hurt.

“No, Harry,” she said, looking down. “It wasn’t that at all. It was like it was you, but it wasn’t you. When this dream version of you was touching me, it didn’t make me feel warm and safe like how I normally feel when you are touching me. It felt like a different person, someone I should fear.”

The realization washed over him. He started to say something just as the kettle began to whistle. He went over and prepared the cups of tea.

“I’ve only felt that way once before. It was yesterday while I was in the Command Center. I kept hallucinating that you were in front of me, but it was this disturbing version of you. I’m very used to dreams of you, but this felt different from any other dream I’ve ever had and not in a good way,” she continued to nervously babble.

Harry’s eyebrows rose slightly. He wanted to circle back to these other dreams, but he had to just bite the bullet here. “Macy, there’s something I need to tell you…”

“There you guys are,” Maggie said, running into the kitchen with Mel. She set her tablet down on the table.

“What are you two doing up?” Macy asked. “It’s so early.”

“Couldn’t sleep, so I started looking into the witches from yesterday,” Mel said, pulling up Instagram. “And look, there’s a third one. Their niece. Her name is Layla. She’s missing now.” 

“Mel came and showed me. I recognized someone in the background,” Maggie said, zooming in on a large man. 

“Omigod, that’s him,” Macy said, pointing. “That’s the demon who was chasing us at the bed and breakfast. The one who yelled about there being a war.” 

“Exactly. And so, I also noticed there was a symbol on the back of his van. I did a reverse image search and voila, I found The Seventh Circle. It’s a nightclub in Oregon,” Maggie said, smiling with pride at her quick thinking. “I bet you we will find Layla there.”

“Very well done, ladies,” Harry said, impressed with his charges. “Before we go and find this club, though, there’s something I need to tell all of you.” He was dreading this part. 

Mel’s brow furrowed. “What’s wrong, Harry?” she asked.

“I lied yesterday,” he said, looking down. “When I said I didn’t see the assassin’s face. I was able to pull his hood off.”

“But Harry, that doesn’t make sense,” Maggie said, her nose wrinkling in confusion. “Why wouldn’t you just tell us what you saw?” 

Macy’s stomach sank. “Because you recognized him, didn’t you?” All of Harry’s hesitation made sense now. 

“Yes, I recognized him,” he said, looking over at Macy. “I thought I imagined it. Or perhaps I just desperately wanted to believe it wasn’t real. But I think Macy has seen him, too.” 

“So, what does he look like? Who do we need to be watching for?” Maggie asked.

“Me. He is identical to me,” he said, sitting down at the table. “Same height, same face, same everything.”

“Not the same everything,” Macy argued. “Harry, he is not you.” 

“Yes, well, there seem to be some slight differences in mannerisms, but otherwise, he seems to be like me in every way,” he said.

“So, what does this mean?” Mel asked, hesitant. 

“It means that you must keep your guard up at all times. If anything seems out of the ordinary, you must question it. Now, let’s get ready to go to the Command Center. We have a witch to save,” he said, needing to escape this situation. He was wracked with guilt. 

Mel and Maggie both headed upstairs to get dressed. Harry busied himself with cleaning up the dishes from tea. He was so focused he didn’t realize Macy was still in the room with him. 

“Harry, I don’t know who or what that...thing...is, but he’s not you. He could never even be close to you,” Macy said, pushing on his arm to get him to turn and look at her.

“Yes, well, for whatever reason he seems to be trying awfully hard to be exactly like me,” he said. 

“He’s not succeeding. I was instantly able to tell something was off,” she said, trying to reassure him.

“Let’s hope that remains the case,” he said. “We have to get ready.”

* * *

Harry and the Charmed Ones arrived at Safe Space, only to find their access to the Command Center blocked. Harry rattled the door, but it didn’t budge an inch. 

“Goddamnit,” he yelled, frustrated. 

“Can you orb us into the Command Center?” Maggie asked, hopefully.

“Ever since I absorbed the assassin’s poison, my orbing has been wonky,” he responded. He tried to orb a couple of times, but he was never able to move farther than an inch from where he was standing.

“So, we’re four of the most powerful magical beings in the world and yet, a simple door is our greatest obstacle at the moment. Great. Just great,” Macy muttered. 

“Well, I guess a portal to Oregon isn’t going to happen then,” Mel said. “What’s plan B?”

“We’ll just have to drive there,” Macy said. “It’s not too far. We can be there in a few hours.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think any of our cars came through the portal with us,” Maggie said. She looked at Harry, hopefully. “Unless...one of our cars came through the portal with us?” 

“Unfortunately not. None of our cars are bound to us the way your house is,” he said.

“Okay, well how much money do we have?” Macy asked.

“A few hundred dollars, but that isn’t going to last much longer,” Harry said.

“It’ll be enough to get us a rental car and head to Oregon. After that, we’ll just have to figure out our cash flow situation,” Macy reasoned. 

“Alright, let’s go then,” Mel said, starting to walk away.

“Wait, Mel, perhaps it’s best if you and Maggie stay here,” Harry said, softly. “You have no powers. You’re defenseless right now. Macy has some firepower and I can heal her if anything goes wrong. But the two of you are safest in the Command Center right now.” 

Mel crossed her arms, glared at Harry, and drew her mouth into a straight line. She didn’t want to admit that he was right. 

“Mel, he’s right,” Maggie said, trying to diffuse the tension. “Macy and Harry need to focus on saving Layla. We can work on stuff once we get into the Command Center and try to figure out money.” 

“Ugh, fine,” Mel said. “Just know that I hate everything about this.” 

“I do too, Mel,” Macy said. “But we’ll figure out how to get our powers back and things will go back to normal.” 

“We just have to be patient,” Harry said. He put a comforting hand on Mel’s arm and smiled softly. “It won’t be like this forever.”

* * *

Harry and Macy went back to the manor until the nearest rental car shop opened. Just over an hour later, they were on the road to Oregon. Harry was fighting with a paper map that Macy was trying to keep out of her line of sight.

“Uh, Harry,” she said, batting away the map. “I can’t see the road when the map is blocking my vision.” 

“Right, sorry,” he said, trying to fold it back up and failing. “I don’t know how we survived so long without cell phones. I mean, I know I did, but still.” 

She looked over at him and started to laugh. “So, what shall we do to occupy ourselves on this road trip? I Spy? Alphabet game?” she said, looking forward to spending this time with him. 

He stared at her. Since their conversation this morning, he had only been able to think about one thing. 

“Um, I actually had a question for you,” he stammered nervously. 

“Sure, Harry, what is it?”

“You said something this morning when we were talking about the assassin.” He started to blush. This was probably going to be a bad idea, but he had to know. He needed to know if her dreams were filled with him the way that his were filled with her. 

“Okay,” she said, trying to remember their conversation.

“You said that you were ‘very used to dreams of me,’” he said, instantly wishing he could take back this whole line of conversation. They were just starting to get comfortable around each other again. 

She started to blush and let out a nervous chuckle. “Oh, you uh, heard that part. I was hoping you would have skipped over that comment,” she said, her fingers tapping nervously on the steering wheel.

“I apologize, Macy. I shouldn’t have said anything,” he said, wanting to take away the awkward tension in the car.

“No, it’s fine. But yes, I have dreams about you more nights than I don’t,” she said, deciding to just be honest. 

“And these dreams?” he trailed off, not certain what he was really trying to ask.

She stared ahead resolutely. “Typically center around that night after the club. Or other similar types of situations.”

He bit his lip, trying to fight his smile. “I was worried you hadn’t enjoyed yourself and that’s why you didn’t want to continue anything.”

She looked over at him. Her eyes softened at his awkwardness. “Harry, I don’t exactly have a large sample size to draw from, but trust me, that night was the best I ever had. The, um, quality of the sex was not the reason I thought we shouldn’t continue.” 

He gazed adoringly at her. “You aren’t the only one who dreams about that night, Macy.” They found themselves lost in each other’s eyes. 

He saw something out of the corner of his eye. He looked back at the road and saw a woman dart into the road.

“Macy!” he yelled. “Watch out!”

She remembered that she was driving and slammed on the brakes. The woman fell down directly in front of the car. She turned off the car and got out with him. 

“Look,” he said, pointing out the green poison flowing through the woman’s veins. “The assassin. It’s his poison.”

“Can you heal her?” 

“The last time I absorbed the poison, my powers were all out of whack for days. If I heal her, I may not be able to protect you when we get to Layla,” he hesitated.

“Harry, she’s in trouble. If you don’t try to heal her, she’ll die.” 

“Of course,” he said, placing his hand over the woman’s face. He focused his energy on drawing out the poison. He felt that same burn going through his veins. The longer he tried to heal her, the more searing agony he felt. 

She watched as he tried to heal the witch. The poison was going into his body. He looked like he was being tortured by the feeling. She wanted to take away his pain. She wanted to reach out and hold him, let him know he would be okay. She looked down at the woman. There had been no change. 

“Harry,” she put her hand on his to break the connection. “She’s gone.” 

He looked down at the woman, disappointed in himself. If he hadn’t hesitated, he might have been able to save her. 

“Damn it,” he said, softly. They took her back over to the side of the road and gently set her down. He pushed her eyelids shut.

As they walked back to the car, she rubbed his back. “Come on, let’s go save a witch,” she said, trying to make him feel better.

The tension was thick in the car. Their earlier flirtation was eclipsed by the severity of the situation they were about to encounter.

“I hate not knowing what we’re driving into,” she said. “We don’t know anything about the assassin. Where he gets the poison from. If he is working with those demons in Vermont. All we know is that he looks like you.” 

“Well, that’s at least a start,” he said, encouragingly. 

A few minutes later, they arrived in the parking lot of The Seventh Circle. They sat in the car and watched as others went inside the club.

“Demons, all of them,” he said, realizing how dangerous this mission would be. “From all the Bloodlines. The Vagrants, Carnals, Malignants, and Primordials. If they’re all in the same place and they aren’t killing each other, then that means there’s something inside they want to kill more. If the demon bloodlines unite, I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous it will be.” 

“Well, we just need to figure out what they want,” she said. “Which means we need to get inside there.”

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “We’re hardly dressed to infiltrate a demon nightclub. And I don’t think we’ll find a proper haberdashery around here, so I don’t see how we can get inside safely.”

She pulled out the fanny pack Mel had given her. She looked inside and smiled.

“I think we’re finally in luck,” she said, pulling out a vial to show him.

“No, is that…”

“Yep, glamour powder, courtesy of Maggie,” she said, handing him the vial. 

“God, I love magic,” he said. 

They parked the car towards the back of the parking lot. As they stepped outside, he blew some glamour powder on her and sprinkled some on himself as well. They both turned away as the glamour took hold. He looked down at his now black suit and adjusted it. He turned around to look at her. 

She was now in an expertly tailored black suit that emphasized her luxurious curves. Her top was cut low, exposing the tops of her breasts. Her hair and makeup were done in a similar style to the last time they had been in a nightclub together. His brain short circuited. It took all his willpower not to drag her back to the car and show her everything he had longed to do with her for weeks. 

She grinned wickedly. She could tell the effect her appearance was having on him. The sight of him in his suit was doing things to her as well. This wasn’t like one of his normal suits. It fit a little tighter and seemed more tailored. She wanted to push his jacket off his shoulders and slowly unbutton his shirt, running her fingers along his chest. She needed to focus, though. Layla was depending on them. 

“What do you think?” she asked. “Do I look demonic enough?”

Harry could only nod. He was still trying to regain the ability to form words. All the blood in his head had traveled south. He was fixated on her chest. He thought back to their night together and how he had lavished attention on her breasts. He had to regain his composure. 

“Most definitely,” he said, finally moving his gaze back to her face. “How about me?”

“Not so bad yourself,” she said, unconsciously moving closer to him. “Just try not to look so...harmless.” She reached out and tousled his hair a bit. 

He looked at her with a smolder. She hadn’t seen that look outside of her dreams since the night of the club. The assassin tried to look at her this way, but it was nothing compared to the real thing. The assassin’s eyes were filled with desire, yes, but it felt more like he wanted to conquer her. When Harry looked at her like this, she felt lust, warmth, love. She never wanted him to stop looking at her like this. 

She cleared her throat and stepped back. “Right, well, let’s get in there and save Layla.”

“Macy, wait. The assassin could be in there. Promise me that you’ll keep your guard up. If you see me inside the club, you cannot trust that it is actually me,” he said, grabbing her hand.

“Okay, understood,” she said. She hated the thought of not being able to trust Harry. She hated the fact that he felt guilty over the assassin having his face. 

They walked closer and realized the bouncer was checking for demon blood before going inside. 

“I’ll just have to go inside by myself then,” she said, preparing herself mentally.

“Macy, no, that’s suicide. You have no idea what they are doing in there,” he said, panicked. He lowered his voice. “I can’t just stand outside here, knowing that you’re in there risking your life.” 

“I have to do this, Harry,” she said, pleading with him to understand. “Layla needs us. I can’t stand by and let another witch die.” 

He pulled her in for a hug, needing to feel her and remind himself that she is safe right now. 

“Be careful,” he whispered in her ear. “I can’t lose you.”

She held him tight to her. “I’ll see you soon. I promise.” She pressed a kiss so light against his cheek he almost believed he imagined it.

She walked away and got in line. She passed the blood test and entered the club. As she looked around, she saw pure sin everywhere she turned. Demons practically having sex with each other. Every illegal drug under the sun. She looked up and saw an altar with a pyre that appeared to have someone tied to it. That must be where Layla was.

While Macy was inside formulating her plan, Harry stood in the alley, pacing back and forth, and trying to practice his orbing. As he regained his balance from another failed orb, he got pushed against a wall. 

“What the-” Harry asked.

“Is it really you?” he heard Mel’s voice ask. 

“Mel?” he asked, confused. 

“Tell us something that only Harry would know,” Maggie’s voice said.

“Maggie? How did you get here?” he asked.

“No answers until you prove that you’re our Harry,” Mel said, still pinning him against the wall.

“Um, okay,” he said, trying to wrack his brain for something that would prove his identity. “Oh, one part sweetened condensed milk, one part coconut cream, one part rum, a dash of cinnamon and vanilla.” 

“Mom’s coquito recipe. Okay, it’s really him,” Maggie said. They released him. “Sorry, I’ve already had one run-in with the assassin at dad’s funeral, so I’m a little on edge. Where’s Macy?”

“Your dad’s dead? And the assassin was there? There’s no time for all of that right now. Macy went in alone because they were checking for demon blood. Obviously, I couldn’t pass that test. I’ve been standing out here for 30 minutes, trying to orb inside.”

“Oh god, Macy’s in there alone?” Maggie yelled. “Mel and I have a cloaking serum on, so we’ll get inside and give her some back-up.” 

“Cloaking serum? Brilliant. Please tell me you have some extra with you,” he asked. Finally, he could be useful again. 

“Sorry, Harry, we didn’t bring any more with us,” Mel responded.

“So, I’m just going to continue to stand out here useless while all three of you are inside fighting evil,” he muttered, frustrated. “Great.”

“It’s going to be fine, Harry,” Maggie said, trying to reassure him. “We’ll get in and out. You’ll hardly know we’re gone.”

He saw the door to the club open and then shut. The sisters must have made it inside. He kicked at the fence, frustrated. He just had to keep trying to get inside. He focused his energy on picturing Macy and tried to orb again. Finally, he had a breakthrough and orbed into the club. A man was standing on the stage, addressing the crowd of demons. 

He looked around until he found Macy. She was standing off to the side, looking around the room. She looked deep in thought. He could see her making calculations and developing a plan. He wanted to take a moment to watch her just a second longer, but there was no time. He slowly moved over to her until he was standing next to her.

“Macy, it’s me,” he quietly said into her ear.

“But how?” she looked back at him. There was hope in her eyes that she was truly talking to her Whitelighter, but he could see the hesitation there as well. 

“I finally managed to orb in,” he said.

“How do I know it’s really you?” she said, still wary. 

“What do I need to say to prove it to you?” he said, his eyes pleading with her. 

As soon as he looked at her with his soft, adoring glance, she had her answer. She wanted to reach out and hug him. She had been wracking her brain for nearly an hour, trying to figure out how to get Layla out of there. Every plan she came up with needed at least one more person, though. She was terrified and overwhelmed. Seeing him next to her again instantly brought her peace. “Never mind, I can tell it’s you,” she said. 

He smiled with relief. “Good. Mel and Maggie are here. They have a cloaking serum. What we need is a distraction.”

She looked back up at the man on stage.

“The Overlord has a plan for us. To put down our oppressors and finally reign supreme for once and all. The Elders are gone. The Charmed Ones burnt to death, a fate they deserved,” the demon said as he pulled off the cloak in front of the pyre, revealing Layla.

“Shit, we need to get on that stage,” Harry said.

“Wait!” Macy yelled out from the side of the room.

“Macy, what are you doing?” he asked, softly enough that only she could hear him.

“Creating a distraction,” she muttered to him as she walked closer. “Callum is right. Unless the overlord shows his cowardly face, all of us should walk out that door right now.” 

“And who the hell are you?” the demon on stage said.

“Who I am...is the overlord,” she said, trying to project a confidence she certainly did not feel at the moment. “And you will all bow to me.”

“You’re the Overlord?” the stage demon said with a sneer. “So, prove it.”

“Right, yes, proof,” she said, trying to stall. As she stood there, she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. She hoped it was Mel and Maggie. One demon got shoved into another. A chair was thrown across the room. Macy felt her sisters standing on either side of her. 

“How did you do that?” the stage demon asked. “You’re cuffed.”

“Like I said,” she said with a bold smile. “I’m the fucking Overlord.” She let out a firebolt from her hands. 

The room erupted into chaos. Demons of various bloodlines begin to punch each other. The sisters moved toward the stage amidst the fury. Macy got right next to the pyre where Layla was tied.

“Who are you?” Layla whispered.

“Don’t worry,” Macy said as she untied her. “I’m a friend. I’m here to help.” 

Macy grabbed the young witch’s hand and they got off the stage. Mel and Maggie were trying to continue the chaos by throwing things around the room. Macy and Layla reached them just as the cloaking serum wore off. They looked at each other, panicked, as the other demons realized the presence of the sisters. The four witches ran towards the door, where Harry was prepared to get them all out. 

“Is it still you?” Maggie asked, worried.

Macy looked at him and studied his face. “It’s him, guys,” she promised. “I’m sure of it.”

The five of them ran out and climbed into the rental car. They took Layla home, dropped off the car, and then portaled back to the Command Center.

“Well, that was a total clusterfuck,” Maggie said, as she regained her balance out of the portal. “But Layla is safe now, so that’s what counts.”

“Indeed. Thanks to Macy’s quick thinking and your capabilities with potions, we kept Layla safe today,” Harry agreed. “Now, let’s go home. I’ll cook dinner for us and you two can fill us in on your day because it sounds like there’s a lot to be heard.”

* * *

The family headed back to the manor. The sisters took turns in the shower while Harry prepared lasagna for dinner. They sat down to dinner together, as Maggie explained what had happened while they were separated.

“Okay, so long story short, the whole world thinks we’re dead,” she said. “The official story is that we burned in a house fire. Kappa even had a vigil for me.”

“Holy shit,” Macy said, finally realizing she could never return to her old life. 

“Yeah, and in looking for our obituaries, I also found out that our dad died. He had a heart attack a few days ago,” Maggie said, tearing up.

“Oh, Maggie, I’m so sorry,” Macy said, reaching over to squeeze Maggie’s hand. She knew the pain of losing a father unexpectedly. It wasn’t something she would wish on anyone.

“His funeral was earlier today and I couldn’t just sit there knowing it was happening, so I portaled there and stood off to the side,” Maggie said, looking down at the table. She knew it was a mistake to go, but she still felt like she did what she needed to do.

“While that was a very risky decision, it’s perfectly understandable why you did that,” Harry said, trying to take away the guilt he knew Maggie felt. 

Maggie smiled at him, appreciating his reassurances. “So, I was standing off to the side and Harry orbed next to me. Except, it clearly wasn’t him. He said he had heard about my dad and wanted to come make sure I was okay,” she said. “Nothing about him felt right. I felt scared near him. He started taunting me about not having powers. So, I picked up a shovel to try and knock him out, but he blocked it with his hand. Then Mel appeared with the cloaking serum on and got us out of there. It was so scary, though.” She paused and looked into Harry’s eyes, a worried and almost frightened expression on her face. “He really does have your face. Like, exactly your face.” 

“Macy, Harry said he thought you had seen the assassin, too,” Mel asked. “What happened to you?”

“It was while I was feeling the effects of his poison. I kept hallucinating and hearing Harry’s voice. Whenever I would lose consciousness, I would see him, but it was the same type of feeling Maggie had. It didn’t feel like Harry. He felt cold. Sinister, almost,” Macy explained.

“And that was the only time you’ve seen him?” Maggie asked.

She looked over at Harry and then looked down at the table. “Yeah, that was the only time I’ve seen him.” She got up to clear the dishes. “I want to go back to the Command Center tonight. Keep an eye on the witchboard.” 

“I’ll join you, if you don’t mind,” he said. “Keep an extra set of eyes on it.” He wanted to know why she had just lied to her sisters. He also just wanted to stay near her. After going without her company for so long, the thought of spending time with her again was intoxicating. 

* * *

As they walked into the Command Center, Macy grabbed a piece of chalk and started writing on a chalkboard. 

“What is that?” he asked.

“It’s the three witches we’ve lost since we came here. The list is so we never forget. Because they’re more than just lights on a switchboard. They are women with names and dreams and people who loved them.”

He smiled sadly. “May I?” He motioned for her to hand him the chalk. He drew a line down the middle of the board and wrote Layla’s name on the other side. “Remember your losses, but don’t forget to celebrate your victories. Thanks to you, Layla’s back home.” 

He perched on the edge of the table and looked down. “If I hadn’t hesitated earlier, we might have been able to write a second name on our column of saves. But I was so focused on how the poison affected me. It was selfish.”

“Harry, stop,” she said, going to sit next to him. “I saw what absorbing that poison did to you. You looked like you were in agony. And she was too far gone. Those couple of seconds wouldn’t have mattered in the long run.”

“For as long as I can remember, I’ve only had one purpose. To protect witches. That’s the only reason the Elders gave me a second life. And ever since we’ve found out about the assassin, it’s been messing with my head. To know that there is something out there with my face trying to harm you and your sisters, for the first time in my life, I feel scared. Truly scared,” he said. “I feel like I’m failing you as your Whitelighter.”

“Stop it,” she said, turning to face him. “You have to stop thinking like that. You are so much more than just our Whitelighter. You are my, our everything. We can’t do this without you. It’s okay to feel scared. I feel scared. But not of you. Because I know that whatever that assassin is, he is not you.”

He gazed into her eyes. He was touched by the affection she continued to show him. 

“Macy, why didn’t you tell your sisters about the dream you had?” he asked, his brow furrowing.

“I thought it would create too many questions about why he was trying to find me in a dream and seduce me,” she said, turning away. “They don’t know about what happened between us this summer. I wanted to keep that information to myself. It was special, something for just the two of us.” 

He smiled to himself. He already figured out that she had never told her sisters about their night. Maggie never would have stopped talking about it if she knew. He had been so worried she was ashamed of their night together. “We need to come up with a system to make sure you always know it’s me,” he said. “Now that he’s approached you and Maggie, we need a way for you to verify my identity. It can be something simple. A code word or a gesture.” He started to pace.

She moved back in front of him. “Harry, I don’t need any of that.”

“But how can you be certain?” 

“All I need is a look,” she told him. She moved toward him, invading his personal space. “Because I know your face, Harry. When you look at me, your eyes crinkle just slightly at the corners, like you’re smiling. When you’re focused on something, your brow furrows and there’s the smallest wrinkle between your eyebrows. And when I look into your eyes, I see warmth and love. The assassin doesn’t have any of that.” She held her hand against his cheek. “So, if I can just look into your eyes, I will always know when it is you.” 

They stood there for a moment. His hand reached up to hold hers against his cheek. They stared into each other’s eyes. They started to move closer together until their chests were pressed together. They could feel the other’s breath, hot against their face. He looked down toward her lips and then looked back up as if he were asking permission. 

As she leaned in to close the distance, the witchboard lit up. “We should probably go take care of that,” he said, not wanting to move back.

“Yeah, we should,” she said, holding still. They stayed there for just a moment longer until he moved back and the spell was broken. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has read the story, left kudos, or left a comment. If you are enjoying it, please consider taking the time to write a comment. It honestly makes my day to read anything anyone has left.


	4. Chapter Four: Careful What You Witch For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Macy is avoiding sleep for fear of the assassin. Harry convinces her to get some rest. Harry and Mel travel to the astral plane while Macy goes to help a witch in trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has read, left kudos, or left comments so far! 
> 
> As I say with every chapter, a huge thank you to my wonderful beta katasstropheee. 
> 
> Some dialogue borrowed from 2x03: Careful What You Witch For.

“Macy! Watch out,” Harry yelled as he fought off another demon, stabbing it in the chest to vanquish it. “There’s another one right behind you!”

Macy whirled around and shot a fireball at the other demon, incinerating it. Harry ran over to her, looking around. “It looks like we might be clear. Are you okay? Do you need anything healed?”

“No, I’m fine,” she said, brushing him off. She walked a few steps away and yelled in frustration. “But damn it, Harry. We lost another one. What’s even the point of us coming here if the witches are going to just die anyway?” 

“Yes, we lost Sarah, and it’s okay to be disappointed and frustrated by that. But we managed to save Jane. She would have certainly died alongside her friend if it wasn’t for us. Celebrate the victories where we can get them,” he said, pulling her in for a hug and rubbing her back. 

She stood there and let him hold her for a moment. She let herself focus on the warmth of his body, the soothing feeling of his hand moving against her back. She understood where Harry was coming from, but she was so hurt by the near constant losses they seemed to have lately. 

He pulled back and held her face in his hands. “Let’s go home. You need to get some sleep.” 

“I’m fine. I don’t need to sleep. I need to be ready for the next witch in danger,” she turned away from him. She pulled out the marble and threw it, reopening the portal to the Command Center.

Mel sat at the table trying to decode the Book of Elders with no luck. She tore off another piece of paper from her legal pad and threw it into the trash can. “How’d it go?” she asked, hopefully. Harry gently shook his head at her.

“We lost another one,” Macy said, going over to write Sarah’s name on their list of losses.

He grabbed the chalk from her and wrote Jane’s name on the side of their victories. “But we also saved one of them.” 

Macy sat down in her chair and pulled a Safe Space hoodie over her like a blanket. He crouched down next to her.

“Macy, let me take you back home. You need to get some sleep. When was the last time you slept more than 30 minutes?” he asked.

“I told you. I’m not going to sleep. I’m fine. I just need some caffeine and I’ll be back to normal,” she argued. 

Maggie came into the Command Center and walked down the stairs. “I’m about to lose our only access to the Command Center,” she said. 

“What? How? You’ve only worked here for five days,” Macy asked, frustrated. 

“Well, since office supplies and Safe Space hoodies keep disappearing, they’re restricting orange keycards to management only,” Maggie said, glaring at her sisters. “So, unless I can get the open assistant manager position, we’re fucked.” 

“Great, so we’re fucked then,” Mel said, under her breath.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, sis,” Maggie said. “Harry, how is the orbing coming along?”

Harry tried to orb a few times from where he was standing, to no avail. He sighed, defeated. "Not there just yet."

“So, you’re telling me we just battled twenty demons and yet again, we can’t get through a simple fucking door?” Macy yelled as she stood up. “And what the hell is taking so long with the Book of Elders?”

Mel glared at her older sister. “Oh, I’m sorry that translating an ancient tome written in a completely unknown language is taking a minute. It’s not like I can plug it into Google Translate. If you know so much, why don’t you give it a shot?” Mel tossed the book onto the table near Macy.

“Fine, I’m already doing everything else around here, so why the hell not?” she said, stomping over to the book. She tried to open the book, but as soon as she touched it, she was tossed backwards. She hit her head against the wall and hit the floor.

“Macy!” Harry said, rushing over to check on her. “Are you okay?” 

She rubbed the back of her head. “What the hell was that?” 

“It must be your demon powers,” he realized. “The Elders probably enchanted the book to make sure it didn’t fall into the wrong hands.”

“Oh, like mine?” she snarked back at him. 

“Macy, you know that’s not what I meant,” he said, lowering his voice so only she could hear him. “Will you please let me take you home? You’ve been on edge for days. You’re biting off everyone’s heads. Please.”

“Harry, I can’t sleep,” she said, her eyes pleading for him to understand. “I never know when…”

“He’ll be back,” he said, understanding her dilemma. “Look, I could use some rest, too. If I was close to you while you slept, would you feel safer?” 

She looked into his eyes. She was exhausted. It had been days since she last had a full night’s sleep. She would feel safer with him nearby, but she also didn’t trust herself around him. Ever since their almost kiss in the Command Center, she felt like she would snap at any moment. The tension between them was killing her. But he was right, she had to sleep at some point. “Fine, we can give it a shot.”

“Excellent,” he said, relieved. “I’m going to speak to Mel and Maggie for a moment. You go ahead home and I’ll be there shortly.”

She said goodbye to her sisters and went back home. Once she was out of the room, Mel and Maggie glared at him.

“What the actual fuck is her problem?” Maggie said, her arms crossed. “She bites our heads off every time we say anything.”

“If she throws it back in my face one more time that she has powers and we don’t, I’m going to slap her,” Mel added. 

“Ladies, we’re all frustrated right now. Macy hasn’t slept more than a few minutes in probably five or six days. Hopefully, if I can get her to sleep for even a few hours, her mood will improve.” 

“Well, it better, because I can only be understanding up to a certain point,” Maggie said. 

“I understand. Mel, just keep plugging away with the Book of Elders. Maggie, you have to find a way to keep access to the Command Center. I’m going to go home and try to get some rest alongside Macy. Just call me if you need anything.” 

Mel looked at the Whitelighter and saw how exhausted he was. The bags under his eyes were more pronounced. Where his posture was normally impeccable, he seemed to slump more, as if he were defeated by the world. She would guess he probably had not been sleeping much, either. “Harry, are you okay?” 

“I’m fine,” he said, brushing off her concern. 

“Don’t just focus on Macy, okay. You need to rest, too. Look, we promise not to call you unless it’s really important.” 

“I will do my best,” he promised her. “Don’t worry about me. If you need anything, just call.”

* * *

Macy arrived at home and started panicking. What on earth was she thinking? She wasn’t going to be able to sleep next to Harry. She paced back and forth, wringing her hands. Her and Harry plus a bed would only equal disaster. Unless maybe they just had sex one more time to get it out of their systems? No, that would never work. She sighed. She would never be able to get him out of her system. 

She just needed to relax. She drew a bubble bath, climbed in and put in her earbuds, letting the music soothe her.

Harry got home and yelled Macy’s name to no response. He began to panic. Did the assassin find her and take her? Damn it, he never should have let her walk home by herself. 

He ran through the house, trying to find her. He checked the living room and kitchen. He ran up to the attic. Nothing. He ran into her room and didn’t see her. Without thinking, he opened the door to the bathroom and found her sitting in the bathtub listening to music.

“Jesus,” she said, trying to cover herself up. “Did you forget how to knock?”

He turned around, so he was facing the door. “Apologies. I got home and yelled for you, but you didn’t answer. I may have panicked a little bit.” 

She felt her irritation slipping from her body. “Harry, it’s fine. I just had earbuds in and didn’t hear you. Can you hand me my towel?” She stood up.

He reached for the towel and handed it to her without turning around.

“You’ve seen it all anyway,” she said under her breath as she pulled the towel around herself. She pulled on her tank top and leggings. “You can turn back around. I’m fully covered again.” 

He turned around, his face still red. He didn’t know how he was going to handle sleeping next to her. It was one thing when he just had the memory of how she looked naked. Now, he was reminded of how beautiful the image was. This was going to be a terrible idea.

She went over to the bed and pulled down the covers. “Why don’t you go change into your pajamas? If we’re both going to sleep, we should be comfortable.”

“Good idea,” he said. “I think I’m going to follow your lead and take a quick shower as well. Wash off that demon encounter and all that.” Really, he just needed to take a cold shower and get his wits about him again. He practically ran out of the bedroom.

Macy wasn’t stupid. She could see how he was affected by seeing her in the bathtub. She was trying to remember why she was denying herself the opportunity to be with him again. They both clearly still wanted each other. She kept reminding herself that whenever things inevitably went south, it would be messy for everyone involved. Yet there was a voice in the back of her head that said there was always the possibility things wouldn’t end poorly. It was Harry, after all. 

She sat there, debating the pros and cons with herself. She didn’t hear him come back into the room. He climbed into the bed next to her, wearing a t-shirt and the sweatpants she had come to love on him. His hair was tousled and wet from the shower. It took all of her energy not to kiss him.

“Feel better?” she asked, turning on her side to look at him. 

“Much,” he said, mirroring her pose. “You ready to get some sleep?” He reached out and pushed a loose curl behind her ear. 

She inhaled sharply at his touch. The feeling of his fingers against her went straight to her core. “Harry, I don’t think this is going to work,” she said, lying on her back and looking up at the ceiling. 

“I’ll be right here. If the assassin comes for you in your dreams, I’ll be here for you,” he said, trying to reassure her.

“And what if I have one of my other dreams?” she muttered. 

“What other...oh,” he blushed, realizing what she meant. “Well, we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.”

“Damn it, Harry,” she said, turning to face him again. “I can’t relax when you’re this close to me. With your adorable face and your stupid lips that I want to kiss all the time. It’s not a matter of if we come to that bridge. It’s a matter of when.” 

His eyes darkened. “What are you saying, Macy?”

“I’m saying that no matter how hard I try not to, I still want you. And to have you this close to me, lying in bed with me, is torture. Because I can’t have you,” she said, flopping onto her back in frustration.

“Macy, you are the only one who thinks you can’t have me,” he responded, his voice lowering an octave. “And trust me when I say, it’s not exactly easy for me to lay here next to you and do nothing.” 

She looked into Harry’s eyes. Her eyes lowered to his lips and then back up to meet his gaze. She moved in to kiss him, but hesitated for just a moment. He leaned forward and closed the gap, capturing her lips with his. She gasped, opening her mouth to him. The kiss turned frantic, each one trying to soak in as much of the other before their time ran out. 

He pushed her into the mattress, trying to cover as much of her body with his as he could. As his hands trailed up her body, reaching for the edge of her tank top, his phone rang. “Oh, fucking hell,” he said. 

“No, no, just ignore it,” she said, moving back to kiss him again.

“Macy, I have to answer it. Your sisters might be in trouble,” he said, reluctantly pulling away. 

“Mel? What do you need?” he answered, breathlessly. “No, I’m fine. I was just...sleeping. Fine, yes, I’ll be right there.” He hung up the phone and looked down at the floor. 

“Harry, tell me you are not about to leave right now,” she said, her arms reaching out to pull him closer.

He grabbed her hands in his and moved them away, although it caused him immense pain to do so. “I have to. Mel thinks she made a breakthrough with the Book of Elders. Trust me, there is no one in the world more disappointed than me that I have to go. Just...please, promise me we can continue this later. Don’t push me away again.” He pulled her in for a deep kiss. “Promise me.” He stood up and started to leave the room, needing to go get dressed again.

She laid back down against the pillows. “I promise, Harry. Now go, see what Mel needs. I’m just going to lie here in this bed all alone and think of all the things we could be doing with each other.”

“Oh, love, trust me. I won’t be able to think of anything else for the rest of the day,” he said, coming back to kiss her one more time. “We will finish this later.” He used all his energy to pull himself away from his love. 

He took one last look back at her before leaving the room. He ran up to the attic to change, took a deep breath, and tried to will away his erection. This better be the most fucking important breakthrough in the history of the world, based on what he just had to sacrifice. 

While Harry left, Macy lay in bed and tried to catch her breath. She wasn’t sure if she was making a smart decision right now. There was still so much that could potentially go wrong between them. But every moment between them felt right. When he kissed her, she felt like she was on fire. When he touched her, she felt warm and safe. He was her rock. So, maybe this could work. She decided that when they talked later, she would tell him she wanted to try and make a real relationship work with him. 

She laid there and thought back to how good he had made her feel just now, just with a simple kiss. She was too keyed up to sleep now. She went downstairs and made herself some lunch while she tried to calm down again.

* * *

Harry arrived at the Command Center, still breathless from earlier. He walked down the stairs over to Mel. “What is it, Mel?” he said, a little harsher than he intended. 

“Geez, Harry,” she said, glaring at him. “Did Macy’s shit attitude rub off on you?” 

He took a deep breath and centered himself. “No, Mel. I’m sorry. I was asleep when you called. I’m just slightly cranky about being woken up. But you said you had a breakthrough with the Book?”

“I know. I’m sorry for waking you like that. I just recognized this symbol and saw it in some of your earlier notes. I think it might be the key for cracking a part of it. I didn’t want to waste any time,” Mel said.

“Of course. You did the right thing,” he reassured her. “Now where is this symbol?”

She pointed to a symbol that looked like an owl. “And like I said, I remembered seeing it in some of your earlier notes.” She pulled out a piece of paper with his writing on it. “What does it mean?”

“It’s for the Sentinel. We need to find our way to the astral plane,” he realized. 

“But what do these letters mean? I can’t think of anything that would be shortened to EBO, BOE, EOB…” 

“OBE. Out-of-body experience.”

“Oh, that makes so much sense. I remember reading a recipe in the Book of Shadows for a tea that could trigger an out-of-body experience. We just need to go get the ingredients,” Mel said, heading for the door. “Fortunately, Kat’s shop should have everything we need.” 

“Brilliant,” he said, following behind her. 

They went through the shelves in Kat’s shop, grabbing blue lotus, skullcap, cinquefoil, stems of psychotria viridis, and white vinegar. Mel double-checked the recipe to make sure she had everything. 

“We’re missing one thing, though,” Harry said.

“We have everything on the list,” she replied, triple-checking the list in confusion.

“We need a human anchor. Someone to bring us back so we don’t get stranded on the astral plane.”

“And where are we going to find that?” 

He looked over at a brochure for private meditation sessions with Kat. He looked back at Mel.

“Harry, no. Kat is kind of into me and that’s going to be so awkward,” she pleaded. 

“Perfect. Because no one else will agree to spending five hours meditating with us. Just go ask her.” 

She glared at him. “Fine, but I hate this.” 

“Understood, but it has to be done.” 

* * *

Macy ran out of stuff to do around the house and decided she still couldn’t sleep. She would just go to the Command Center and see if she could help Mel and Harry with the translation. Plus, she just needed to be near him again. She arrived at the Command Center and found it empty. She decided to sit down in front of the witchboard and keep an eye on it. As she sat down, she felt the stress leave her body and she was finally able to drift off to sleep.

As soon as she closed her eyes, she was flooded with images of her kiss with Harry earlier, the sensation of his body against hers. She jolted herself awake. Nope, she could not have a sex dream in the middle of the Command Center. Not when her sisters could walk in at any moment. She tried to keep her eyes open, but she felt herself drifting again. 

This time, a sense of cold washed over her. He was here. She immediately froze. She felt him standing right behind her. He brushed her hair to the side. She felt his breath on her neck.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” the assassin whispered in her ear. 

She shook herself awake. She hated the feeling of him close to her like that. She didn’t know how long she could keep going the way she was. She desperately needed sleep, but she couldn’t get any as long as the assassin was going to continue to invade her dreams. 

Just then, a red light lit up on the witchboard. A witch in San Francisco was in trouble. She looked around. She knew she shouldn’t go without backup, but Harry and Mel were focused on the Book, and Maggie had her interview. The witch couldn’t wait for her to have a second person. She opened a portal, grabbed the marble, and jumped through.

She exited the portal in a desolate trainyard. She looked around, seeing if she could find any indication for where the witch might be. There was no noise from anywhere. The silence was eerie. Her hands began to tremble. She was so exposed out here. She hadn’t told anyone where she was going. If anything happened to her, Harry and her sisters would never know what had happened. She began to question herself. She should just throw the marble and head back to the Command Center. 

She stopped to think about the witch from earlier that morning. She thought about what would happen if she did go back. Would she watch as the light on the witchboard was extinguished? Would she be able to live with herself if she knew she could have tried to help her? No, she had to keep going. 

She boarded one of the trains and started to look around. As she walked down the aisle, she heard a noise. Tentatively, she walked towards it. She peeked over the top of a seat and found a woman curled up on the floor. 

The woman looked to be around Macy’s age. She was slightly disheveled and looked terrified. This must be the witch she was looking for. When she saw Macy, her eyes got wide and she pushed herself back towards the wall more. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Macy said, crouching down on the floor. “I think I’m here to help you. Are you by any chance a witch?” Once she found the woman, she felt calm. This seemed almost too easy. She found her and didn’t even have to battle a demon. All she had to do was get her out of there and take her somewhere safe. She didn’t know why she had been so worried. 

“Yes,” the woman responded in a whisper. Macy detected a British accent.

“Let’s get you out of here,” she said, reaching her hand out to the woman. As she reached out, she saw the woman’s eyes go wide with fear. 

“No,” the woman said, as a black hood was placed over Macy’s head. Everything went dark. Macy felt herself being moved by something. She felt herself being thrown into another room and the hood was removed from her head.

She looked around, finding herself in some type of cage with the woman from the train.

“I tried to warn you,” the woman apologized. “I was kidnapped. I managed to escape, but they found me.”

“It’s okay. I should have realized it wasn’t going to be that easy,” Macy said. She went to grab for the bars of the cage to see if she could somehow open them.

“Don’t!” the woman yelled just as Macy was about to grab the bar. “We’re in some type of a Faraday cage. The bars are electrified.”

“Oh, gosh, okay. Thank you for that heads up. I didn’t catch your name.”

“I’m Abigael,” the woman responded. “Pleasure to meet you.” 

“It’s nice to meet you. I have a friend who may be able to help us,” Macy said. She called out Harry’s name, but received no response. She tried one more time. He might not have been able to orb to her anyway, she remembered. He was getting better, but it was still wonky. She really should have developed more of a plan before opening the portal, or really any plan at all. “Well, shit. Okay, we’re going to have to find our own way out.”

“How? We’re stuck in an electric cage with demons guarding it,” Abigael said, frustrated.

Macy looked down at the mattress on the floor and back up at the cage. She didn’t have stable magic to rely on at the moment. She still had physics, though. “First of all, we’re going to need to get the coils out of that,” she said, reaching for the mattress. 

They got the coils out and pushed them up against the bars of the cage. When their demon guard came by a few minutes later and put the keys in the door, he was electrocuted and passed out. Abigael grabbed the keys, while Macy grabbed his knife. 

“Nice work,” Abigael said. “How did you think of that?” 

“I’m a scientist,” Macy smiled. It felt so nice to be able to solve a problem with science again. They had been relying so much on magic and luck since landing in Seattle. Pulling out her physics knowledge was like putting on a warm sweater. It made her feel safe. It gave her the confidence in her abilities she had been lacking since leaving Hilltowne. 

“So, what’s next?” Abigael asked. “You lead the way.” 

Macy looked around for an exit. It seemed there was only one path. They would just have to go out and hope they didn’t encounter any demons along the way. If they did, though, she felt confident now. She had this all under control. 

They walked out into a crowded marketplace. Abigael looked up and noticed a couple demons off in the distance. One of them made eye contact with her and started towards her. “Shit, we’ve been seen,” she said. 

“We need to blend in more,” Macy said, looking around and seeing another demon walking toward them purposefully. “Just grab something to disguise yourself.” Abigael grabbed a baseball cap and Macy wrapped a scarf around her neck, hoping it would alter their appearances enough to throw off the demons. As they continued to walk, they noticed demons closing in on them from every side. 

“Got any more brilliant plans in there, friend?” Abigael asked nervously. 

Macy looked around frantically, trying to find an escape route. She was coming up empty. The only way out was with the marble.

“Just one, but you’re going to have to trust me,” Macy said.

She pulled off her scarf and wrapped it around Abigael’s eyes. “What the hell?” Abigael yelled. 

She threw the marble, grabbed the other witch’s arm, and pulled her through back to the Command Center.

They landed and Abigael fell to the floor. “What the fuck was that?” she said, rubbing her knee which had slammed against the concrete floor. “I thought you were there to help me, not to kidnap me, too.” 

“I’m sorry. This was the only way I could get you out, but I couldn’t risk you actually seeing where I brought you. Now, just sit right there,” Macy said, helping her up and bringing her over to a chair. “I just need to figure out what to do next,” she said while pacing back and forth. She really wished Harry was there to help her right now. 

* * *

While Macy was pacing the Command Center, Harry and Mel were sitting down for their meditation session with Kat.

“So, what is it you seek today? We need to articulate it before we begin our session. Giving voice to your purpose will help to center all of us,” Kat said, crossing her legs and sitting down with the other two.

Harry and Mel looked at each other nervously. How would they explain this?

“We’ve lost our power,” Mel said. “We’re hoping to regain our inner strength.”

“Precisely,” Harry agreed. He was thankful for Mel’s quick thinking. He still felt off center since his earlier encounter with Macy. All he wanted was to rush through this session and run straight back home to her bed. He was one step away from just blurting out they were magical beings who needed to regain their powers. He would have just wiped Kat’s memory after the meditation session. Mel’s approach was far easier and more ethical. 

“Ah, I see,” Kat said. “We all feel a bit powerless these days. It’s perfectly natural to seek inner strength. Let’s see if we can get that back for the two of you.” 

Harry reached out and offered the cups of tea to Mel and Kat before drinking his own. They each took a sip and sat there in silence for a few moments. He struggled to clear his mind. Whenever he closed his eyes, he was lying back in bed next to Macy. He was staring adoringly at her as she expressed her frustration over not being able to get him out of her mind. He was savoring her sumptuous lips against his, feeling the curves of her body under his fingertips. He had to stop this. He had to get his powers back so he could help her. There would be plenty of time to relive his morning later. Hopefully, he would be able to recreate it in person instead of just focusing on his memories. He tried again to clear his mind as he felt someone shake him.

He opened his eyes and looked at Mel. She appeared irritated. “When is it going to kick in? I don’t feel anything yet,” she whispered.

He looked nervously over at Kat, hoping she hadn’t noticed Mel speaking. She seemed completely oblivious to what was happening around her. He shrugged at Mel. He never had to trigger an out-of-body experience to regain his powers, so he had no idea what to tell her.

“Do we need to drink some more?” Mel asked, worriedly. 

His vision began to blur as the world shook around them. Suddenly, they were both standing in a lush garden. He looked around at the vibrant green of the trees. The lines of the leaves were blurred, as if he were stuck in a Van Gogh painting. From a distance, he heard the soft giggles of young children. He looked back at Mel, who shrugged. “I guess we just keep going,” she said. 

He nodded and they walked down a brick staircase in the direction of the laughter. “This must be the astral plane,” he said. 

“What is all of this?” she asked, following him down the steps.

‘Time and space are overlapping,” he explained. “Sounds from other dimensions are bleeding through to us. 

“Ah, of course,” she said, sarcastically. “That makes perfect sense.” 

He ignored her sarcasm and continued to descend the steps. Two small children dressed in colonial era clothing ran past them. 

“Be careful,” she yelled after them. “You could trip and hurt yourself.”

“They aren’t really here,” he explained to her. “They’re in another dimension.” 

Mel looked up and saw an older man putting away some gardening tools. “Could he be the Sentinel? He’s not fuzzy like the others. He seems just as real as you or I standing here.”

He realized she was right. While everything else around them seemed like a painting or a hologram, this man appeared solidly among them. There had been no description of the Sentinel. It stood to reason, however, that the guardian to the garden would in fact be a gardener. “Let’s find out.” 

“Excuse me,” he said, moving towards the gardener. There was no response. “Can you hear me, sir?” 

The gardener jumped as if he were startled. “Wait, you can see me?” He began to chuckle with glee and moved toward the two of them. “Oh, it’s been ages since anyone has come to see me!” He shuffled his feet and ran over to hug the two visitors. He stepped back. “Oh no, if you’re up here looking for me, things must be pretty bad down there.” 

Harry fought a small laugh at the man’s delight. “Yes, well, we are hoping you can help us. I’m Harry Greenwood. This is Melanie Vera.” 

“We’ve been trying to decipher the Book of Elders, and it led us to you,” Mel explained. 

“Our world is in chaos,” Harry explained. “Demons are attacking witches. The Elders are gone.” 

“We’ve lost our powers. And we really need them back.” 

The Sentinel motioned for them to join him at a table. “So, how did you become the Sentinel?” Mel asked cautiously. 

“My wife and I had two lovely boys, Owen and Walter. They got smallpox. The Elders offered me a deal. If I agreed to serve as the Sentinel and protect the Book of Elders, my sons could live,” he explained. Harry noticed a sadness in the man’s eyes as he spoke of his family. If Harry knew anything about the Elders, it was that any deal offered came with great personal sacrifice. “But if the Elders are gone, I am now stuck.”

“You’ve made a lovely garden up here,” Harry said, trying to reassure him. 

“And there’s no one to share it with me,” he responded sardonically. “I spend my days pruning and planting, but for what purpose? So that maybe once every century or so, someone can wander through and comment on my hard work? What sort of a life is that?” He sighed. “Anyway, you’re not here to commiserate with a lonely old man. You have a purpose.”

“We do,” Mel said sympathetically. “Can you please help us regain our powers? It is absolutely vital we have our magic back.” 

“And why must you have your powers? What is your purpose?” he challenged.

“My sisters and I are the Charmed Ones. Harry is our Whitelighter. Without our magic, the world is in grave danger.” 

“Oh goodness, the Charmed Ones? Well, why didn’t you say that at the beginning? All you need to do is drink this liquid,” the Sentinel said. He reached across the table to grab two goblets and poured in a glowing blue liquid. 

“We just drink this and our powers are restored?” Mel asked, skeptically. “What’s the catch? That’s too simple.” 

“You just drink this, touch your human anchor, and your powers will be restored,” the Sentinel said. 

They looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and drank the liquid. Harry reached out and shook the man’s hand. “Thank you, sir. Truly, you have showed us great kindness today.”

“Just remember, nothing in magic is without consequences,” the Sentinel said. Though his words sounded friendly, there was an underlying ominousness that made Harry uneasy. Harry nodded his understanding. He walked with Mel over to Kat, whose essence seemed to be floating just over a row of flowers nearby. They grabbed hold of her arm and woke up back in the garden area where they had been sitting with Kat. 

“Did it work?” he asked. 

“I don’t know. Let’s try it,” she said, reaching her hand out. She focused and the world stopped. She smiled at him. “You try.” 

He grabbed her hand and orbed them to the other side of the garden. He orbed them back to the cushions where they were sitting.

“We’re back!” she said, leaning in to hug him. “And better than ever!” She restarted time. 

Kat opened her eyes and stretched. “Wow, five hours of meditation will really take it out of you, huh? I’ll meet you guys inside.”

As Kat walked away, Mel turned to Harry. “I can’t believe it worked,” she said, still trying to accept that their powers had returned.

“You go in and settle everything with Kat. I just want to pop down to the Command Center and check on things there,” he said. He was hoping Macy was down there. He had to see her. He had to tell her about his powers. Mostly, though, he needed to ensure she wasn’t freaking out about earlier. 

He orbed into the Command Center and found her sitting there, watching the board. 

“Harry?” she said, smiling at him. “You can orb again!”

“I can,” he rushed over to her and pulled her in for a kiss. “Mel and I got our powers back. You were the first person I wanted to tell. You're always the first person I want to tell, whether it's good news or bad news." He pushed her hair behind her ear. “Macy, I love you. And I just want to be with you, not just as your Whitelighter or your best friend. I want to be more than that to you. Please tell me you feel the same way.” 

“Oh Harry,” she said, wrapping her arms around him. “I love you, too.” 

He stood there and held his beloved for a few moments. He couldn’t believe this was really happening. For so long, he had just wanted Macy. And now, she actually wanted him, too. He pulled back and looked into her eyes.

“Harry?” she said, losing her balance. “Harry? Something’s wrong,” she said, just before fainting.

“Macy? Macy? No, Macy!” he said, trying to wake her up. “Macy, no. Come back to me!” He put his hand over her and tried to heal her. It wasn’t working. He heard Mel yelling for him. She sounded panicked about something. He couldn’t leave Macy here. He held on to her and orbed the both of them to Mel. 

Mel had frozen time. “Mel, something’s wrong!” He yelled as he laid Macy down on the cushions. 

“What’s wrong with Macy?” Mel said, as she rushed over to her sister. 

“I went down to the command center to check on everything. Macy was down there, so I told her about us getting our powers back. I hugged her and then she passed out. I’ve been trying to heal her, but she isn’t waking up,” he said, running his hand through Macy’s hair, still trying to heal her. “What happened up here?”

“I was talking to Kat and suddenly, worms started coming out of her skin and her hair,” Mel said, panicking. “I need you to heal her.”

“Mel, I can’t heal worms. I can’t even heal Macy right now and there’s something actually wrong with her,” he said, frustrated. “Wait, the Sentinel. He said that nothing happens without consequence. The consequences of us getting our powers back are that Kat and Macy must suffer. We have to choose between our powers and their lives.” 

“Something’s still not right. I have an idea,” she said, looking at him. “Orb us up to the roof.” 

“I won’t leave Macy here. I can’t do it.”

“Just trust me, Harry. She’s going to be fine.” 

“Fine, but I don’t like it,” he said, reluctantly. He grabbed her arms and orbed them to the roof. They landed on the side of the roof, nearly falling off.

“I don’t think we ever woke up, Harry. I think we’re still in the astral plane.”

“How do we prove it?” 

“We jump,” she said, looking down at the busy street below.

“Great idea. Counterpoint, what if you’re wrong?” 

“But what if I’m right?” 

He sighed and looked at her. “Fine, you’re Butch. I’m Sundance.” He grabbed her hand and they jumped off the roof, only to land back in the garden with the Sentinel.

The Sentinel looked at them and started to clap. “You two are smarter than I gave you credit for. It normally takes a lot longer for people to figure out that particular trick of mine.”

“So you can’t just give us back our powers then?” she said, glaring at the Sentinel.

“I’m afraid it’s not that easy,” he grimaced. 

“Can you translate the Book of Elders for us then?” Harry asked, hopefully.

“The Book of Elders contains the greatest secrets in all of magic,” the Sentinel said, trying to let them down gently. “I can’t just translate it all. However, I can give you a tool to help with the task.” He pulled out a glass insect with a magnifying glass in the center. “This is a cypher. It won’t automatically reveal everything, but it may make things go a little quicker. And remember what I said, there is no action without consequences in magic.” 

His heart sank as he realized the consequence for him would likely be the chance of happiness with Macy. There had to be some other way, though. He decided he would do anything to prevent that consequence from coming to fruition. 

The two woke up from their experience again to find their powers were still gone, but Harry had the cypher in his pocket. 

* * *

While Harry and Mel were occupied with the astral plane, Macy remained in the Command Center with Abigael. She was pacing back and forth, trying to formulate a plan. She heard the door open and Maggie walked in. She moved to block sight of the other witch.

“Macy, we have a giant problem,” Maggie said, walking down the stairs.

“Maggie, hold on. Just. Stop talking,” Macy said, getting her sister’s attention. 

Maggie stopped and gave her sister a questioning look. Macy stepped aside to show Abigael sitting there, still blindfolded.

“Macy? What the fuck did you do?” Maggie said, glaring at Macy.

Macy grabbed Maggie’s arm and pulled her to the side. “A red light popped up and I went to help, but we got cornered by a horde of demons. My only way out was to portal back here.”

“Where was Harry? There’s no way he would be okay with this!”

“I kind of...went by myself,” she grimaced.

“You went on a mission by yourself? Are you literally stupid?” 

“Maggie, I couldn’t watch another light go out. Mel made a breakthrough with the Book, so Harry was with her. I decided I could handle it,” she said, trying to get her sister to understand.

“I cannot believe you,” Maggie said, shaking her head. “You went on a mission by yourself and you brought back a complete stranger? Did you hit your head that hard earlier?”

“Maggie, I get it and I will let you and Mel and Harry all yell at me about this later, but we need to come up with a plan. Now, what was your problem? Maybe we can figure that one out first.”

“Only that my competition for the assistant manager position is the actual Most Interesting Man in the World. Oh yeah, and they need to run a background check on me for the interview.”

“Maggie, no,” Macy’s eyes got wide. “They can’t run that background check.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Maggie agreed.

“Have you considered a Malleaorum? They're very effective at influencing people,” Abigael said.

“A what?” Maggie said, walking over near Abigael.

“Apologies. I don’t mean to eavesdrop, but everything in this room echoes and you really didn’t seem to be that far away from me. You may be able to use a Malleaorum to convince them to not do a background check, if that’s what you need. You just need some influencing powder. You blow it in the person’s face and recite: Finge cor. Muta mentem. Alia eventa mihi. Shape the heart, change the mind, give me results of a different kind.”

“Okay, that could actually work,” Maggie said, writing down the incantation. “Thank you! I’ll be back, hopefully with a new job.” 

Macy turned back to Abigael. “I’m sorry for the blindfold. It’s just a security precaution.”

“No, I completely understand. After all, you are the Charmed Ones, aren’t you?” 

Macy stopped in her tracks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, trying to deflect the question.

“I hoped you all were still alive. Your sister, the one you were talking to, you called her Maggie. And she called you Macy. I’m a big fan of your work.” 

She reached over and pulled off the blindfold. “Who are you, really?” 

“My name really is Abigael. And I really did get kidnapped by some demons who were working for the Overlord. I haven’t lied to you.” 

Macy looked at her, skeptically. She still wasn’t sure if she should trust this woman. 

Abigael got up and walked over to the Book of Elders. “And this must be the famous Book of…” She touched the book and was blown back across the room.

Macy pinned her to the ground and put a knife against her throat. “You’re not a witch. You’re a demon. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t just end you right now.”

“Macy, no,” Abigael said, pleading with her. “I am a witch. But I’m also a demon. Like you. I’ve never really belonged. I’m too witchy for the demon world.”

Macy lowered the knife and released her, sighing. “And too demon for the witch world. I get it.” 

She looked down and saw a glowing light just under Abigael’s skin. “You’re being tracked?”

Abigael looked down. “They must have implanted that while I was unconscious. I swear, I didn’t know. I’ll leave. I don’t want to put you and your sisters in danger.” The tracker began to vibrate and glow brighter. 

“I think it might be too late for that,” Macy said, looking up at the Command Center door. “I think they’re here. Just stay here and don’t go anywhere. We’ll just have to lure the demon down here. Demon powers won’t work in here.” 

Once Maggie was done with her interview, she helped Macy bring the demon Callum into the Command Center. Macy instantly recognized him from the nightclub as the person who was arguing about the Overlord. Callum grabbed Maggie and began to choke her. 

“Wait, Callum!” Abigael yelled out. “Don’t waste your time with her. The Book of Elders is right here. It’s far more powerful than one measly witch. Just think, all that magical knowledge in one tome. You could rule the world.” 

Callum walked over to touch the book and was quickly blown back across the room, hitting his back against a door. Abigael grabbed a pitchfork and held him in place. As she held him, Mel and Harry walked in.

“What the hell is going on in here?” Harry asked, running downstairs. He ran to Maggie, noticing her nose was bleeding. He waved his hand, quickly healing her. He then moved next to Macy, grabbing her wrist. “Who the fuck are these people?” 

“It’s a long story,” she said, squeezing Harry’s hand. “I’ll explain later, but first, we kind of need to vanquish this guy.” 

Abigael had Callum pinned to the door. She raised her dagger. Just before she drove it into his chest, Macy heard him say, “It’s you...isn’t it?” The hair on the back of Macy’s neck stood up. Abigael drove the dagger into his chest, turning him to ash. She turned around and smiled at the eldest Charmed One.

“Thanks to Abigael’s salty dagger, he’s gone,” Macy said, trying to maintain her earlier ease, although she felt none of it at the moment.

“Salt speeds up a demon’s desiccation,” Harry explained. He looked at Abigael, approvingly. “Impressive.”

“Exactly. And who might you be?” Abigael said, moving over to shake Harry’s hand. She held onto Harry’s hand for just a moment too long. Abigael was looking at Harry like she wanted to devour him. It was the way that Macy looked at him at times, except he actually liked when Macy looked at him this way. 

He cleared his throat and stepped back, standing next to Macy again. He put his hand against the small of Macy’s back, needing to touch her. There was something disquieting about this other witch. He just couldn’t put his finger on it. 

“I’m Harry. I work with Macy,” Harry said, quickly wanting to change the subject. “Well, I don’t know about you ladies, but it’s been a long day and it seems like we have a lot to catch each other up on.” He looked down at Macy and smiled. “How does a celebratory cocktail sound?” 

“Oh, thank god,” Maggie said. “Alcohol sounds perfect.” The younger sisters turned to head for the bar.

Harry placed his hand on Macy’s arm. “And you? Can I buy you a drink?” 

She smiled at him. “That sounds wonderful. Let me just get Abigael here to her final destination and I’ll meet you up there.” Harry looked up to make sure Mel and Maggie were out of the room. He leaned in to quickly kiss her on the cheek. 

“I’ll be waiting,” he said, squeezing Macy’s hand before pulling away. “Don’t take too long.” 

“So, you and Harry just work together?” Abigael said, knowingly, once Harry was out of the room.

“It’s...complicated. So, where would you like to go?” 

“Wembley. I’ve got some family there that will be kind enough to take me in.”

Macy pulled up Wembley on the board.“One more thing before you go,” she said, turning to question Abigael. “Just before we vanquished Callum, I heard him say something. He said ‘it’s you, isn’t it?’”

She saw Abigael’s hand move behind her back as the witchboard lit up with the words “Command Center Breach.” She reached over and pinned Abigael to the ground. She grabbed the knife from Abigael and held it over her head. “I trusted you the first time. I will not make that mistake again,” she said, starting to drive the knife down into Abigael’s chest.

“Wait! That green mark on your leg,” Abigael yelled. “Whatever came for you came for me, too.” She moved the neckline of her shirt to the side, showing a green mark just like the one left on Macy by the assassin. “If you let me live, I will tell you everything I remember about him.”

She paused for a second, deciding the information was more valuable to her. “Fine, tell me everything you know," she said, reluctantly lowering the dagger. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked it, please consider leaving kudos or a comment. I'll be back next weekend with chapter five!


	5. Chapter Five: Deconstructing Harry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Macy talk after dealing with Abigael. The sisters go off with Abigael in search of the assassin. Abigael's true identity is revealed. Most of the sisters make it home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading this so far! I've been absolutely blown away by the positive response, so truly, thank you. 
> 
> This story would make no sense at all if it weren't for my phenomenal beta katasstropheeee. 
> 
> This chapter marks the beginning of the kidnapping arc. There is only a brief scene in this chapter, but it will get worse. It is going to be darker than what was seen on the show. There are going to be issues with lack of consent. I will say up front that this story does not contain rape. However, traumatic shit is ahead. I'll update the tags as necessary, so please heed those if there are specific things that may trigger you. If you don't feel like you can read these next couple chapters because of possible triggers, please let me know. I could post a brief summary at the bottom in case you still want to follow along.
> 
> Some dialogue taken from 2x04: Deconstructing Harry.

“Harry!” Macy yelled for the Whitelighter. Within a few moments, he ran back into the Command Center.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, running over to where Macy had Abigael pinned to the ground. “What happened?” 

“She’s the Overlord,” Macy said, breathlessly. “But she also said she knows about the assassin.”

He glared at Abigael. He pulled Macy off her and conjured an invisible force field to hold Abigael in place. “Start talking. Tell us everything you know about the assassin,” he said, subtly positioning his body between the two women.

Abigael went through her story of the night the assassin invaded her apartment. She had been sitting at home with her conquests of the night. She felt a cold breeze. The assassin came in and shot a poisoned dart into her side. The poison made her dizzy and she lost consciousness. She woke up in a refrigerated truck with the demons who had her when Macy found her. She escaped somewhere in Montana, but was quickly recaptured. 

Harry and Macy kept pushing her to retell the story again, trying to find any discrepancies in her stories. There were no changes. She stayed consistent.

He looked at Macy, nervously, before looking back to Abigael. “Did you ever see its face?” he asked her.

“No. It never took its hood off. I’ve told you that already,” Abigael said, getting frustrated with the continued interrogation. 

“Why should we believe a word you have to say when all you have done so far is lie and try to kill me?” Macy asked, her arms crossed. 

“Only because I thought you and your sisters were behind that thing that attacked me and my comrades. I just wanted to teach you a lesson,” she said, glaring at the Charmed One. 

Macy looked at her as the realization dawned. “It was you. You killed those witches in Vermont,” she said. Until this moment, she did not understand how truly dangerous and demented Abigael was. 

“I realize now that you had nothing to do with the attack on me. Look, you have limited powers and your sisters have none,” Abigael said, trying to bargain. “Frankly, you need all the help you can get. And if you’ll let me live, I’m willing to provide assistance where I can.”

They stepped away from Abigael. “I don’t like this at all, but she’s not wrong about us needing assistance,” Harry said. 

“She literally tried to kill me six hours ago,” Macy argued. 

“It could be better to have her under our control than working against her,” he argued. “We need allies in this fight, Macy. We can’t do everything alone, especially without powers.”

She glared at her Whitelighter. “I hate that you’re right about this.”

“Look, let’s go home for the night,” he said. “Abigael will be fine in the forcefield. I think we can both use some distance from this Command Center for a while.”

“You’re right,” she sighed. “We’ll come back fresh in the morning.” She walked over to the Overlord and explained they were leaving her for the night. “If so much as a page of a book is out of place when we return, I will not hesitate to vanquish your ass.”

Abigael hit her fist against the forcefield. “It doesn’t look like I’m going anywhere,” she snarked back.

* * *

Harry and Macy walked home from Safe Space in awkward silence. He fought the urge to reach out and hold her hand. “Did you maybe want to talk about what happened earlier?” he asked, hopefully, as they arrived back at home. “I know you’ve had a long day, so it’s okay if you don’t want to.”

“No, you’re right, we should talk,” she said. “Why don’t you make us some tea? I’m going to change and I’ll meet you in the attic.”

He smiled. Not for the first time, he had hope things would finally work out for the two of them. He went to work preparing tea for the two of them and headed to the attic.

She took a deep breath. Was this finally going to be the start of her and Harry? Was she finally ready to take this leap? She was still so scared. What would this mean for her and her sisters? What would happen if things didn’t work out? She didn’t want to imagine a life without him in it. But, on the other hand, what if things did work out? What if he was the great love of her life? She needed to stop spiraling in her own mind and finally talk to him. 

She put on the leggings and tank top she was wearing earlier. She walked upstairs and found him standing by the window. The moonlight streamed in and lit him just so. She was taken aback by how lovely he looked in that moment. Her heart swelled and she finally thought she was doing the right thing. He turned to smile at her. He moved over to the couch and sat down, pouring out tea for both of them. She hesitantly walked over and sat down next to him. 

“You seem so nervous,” he said, worriedly. “There’s nothing to be scared of, love. It’s just me.” He reached out to hold her hand. 

“That’s exactly why I am nervous,” she said, looking down and to the side. “What if we’re doing something monumentally stupid? What if we try this and then things end badly? What does that mean for you as our Whitelighter? How is this going to affect our working relationship?” 

He scooted closer to her. “Macy, stop spiraling,” he said, putting his arm around her. “No matter what, I am always going to be here for you and your sisters. Our working relationship will be like it is now. It’s just that hopefully at the end of missions, there will be kissing as an added perk.”

“We are in danger constantly,” she argued. “What happens when my sisters and I are in a life-threatening situation?”

“It’ll be exactly like how things are now,” he said. “My feelings for you aren’t new. I’ve seen the three of you through plenty of life-threatening situations. I can put aside my feelings to focus on the task at hand.”

“But what if I can’t?” she whispered. “What if I’m not that strong?”

“I think you are, but we’ll figure something out,” he said, cradling her face in his hands. “Because I firmly believe what we have together is worth exploring, if that’s what you want. Is that what you want?”

“Yes,” she nodded, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I’m just so scared of all the possible consequences.” 

“Oh, love, I’m scared, too,” he said. “But I want this more than anything. I want you.” 

She leaned in and kissed him. He pulled her tighter as she moved to straddle his waist, needing to get closer to him. He opened his mouth to her, deepening the kiss. Their hands moved up and down each other’s bodies, trying to commit to memory the feeling of the other’s skin against theirs. She smiled as she felt his familiar hardness starting to press into her thigh. She reached down to pull off her shirt. He reached down and covered her hands with his.

“Macy, wait,” he said, stopping her.

“What? Haven’t we waited long enough?” she asked, tilting her head to the side in faux innocence.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I want to take things slow,” he sighed, pushing her hair behind her ear. “I want to take you out on dates. I want more than sex from you. I want this to be a real relationship. You deserve to be courted, Macy Vaughn.”

She bit her bottom lip to try and contain her smile. He was so old-fashioned, but it was in the sweetest way possible. “Okay,” she said softly. “We can go slow.” 

“What do you want to tell your sisters about this?” he asked. 

“Can we keep it to ourselves for just a little while?” she asked, nervously. “I just want to make sure we’re going to be able to work as a couple before we totally upend the whole dynamic. And I kind of want to keep you to myself as long as I can.” 

“That’s fine. We can tell Mel and Maggie whenever you’re ready for it,” he agreed. “Plus, sneaking around like this could be kind of sexy.” 

“Exactly,” she said, leaning in to kiss him again. 

They lazily kissed for several minutes. The longer they kissed, the more feverish they became. His hands began to wander again along her body. She pressed down against him and moaned as he trailed his lips along her neck. 

Reluctantly, he pulled his head back. “No, we need to stop,” he said, his voice graveled with desire. “Much longer and I’m not going to be able to stop myself. And I was serious about wanting to take you out on a real date first.” He shifted her off his lap. 

“Okay,” she pouted. “I understand. Even if I do just want to drag you to my bed.” She leaned in to kiss him one more time before pulling back. “I should probably go down to my room now.”

“Wait, before you go, we should come up with a plan for tomorrow,” he said, reaching for her hand.

“Of course. How has the translation been going?” she asked, seriously.

“Even with the cypher, it’s slow-going. Some of it translates to Latin. Some to Sumerian. I’ve even come across a section in Coptic. The best I’ve got so far is that Whitelighters were created ‘at great cost,’ whatever that means,” he said, frustrated.

“Okay, well, I’m going to follow the clue Abigael gave us and head to Montana in the morning while you work on the Book of Elders.”

“No, I’m coming with you,” he said, furrowing his brow. “It’s way too dangerous.” 

“Harry, the book is our only hope to getting our powers back and helping us understand what the hell we’re even doing here. You need to keep working at that.”

He sighed. “Fine, but I don’t like it,” he relented. “Macy, I know you said you only need to look in my eyes to know that it’s me, but I would feel a lot more comfortable if we had a codeword of some sort.” 

“I told you I don’t need that. I’ve been able to tell immediately every time that it’s him and not you,” she argued back. 

“I know, but I couldn’t bear it if you were wrong. Please, just do this for me,” he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. 

“Fine,” she paused for a moment and tried to think of something that would always tell her it was him. She smiled and thought of the night that started everything for them. “How about Havana?” 

“As in the capital of Cuba?” he asked, confused. 

“As in the song that was playing in the club that first night we danced together,” she said, smiling shyly. “I can’t hear the song without thinking of you.” 

“Havana, it is,” he said, thinking back to that moment. “Truthfully, I was so distracted with the feeling of you pressed against me that night that I barely noticed there was music playing.”

“That’s okay. Just know that it’s one of the songs I associate with us,” she said, leaning in to kiss him again. 

“One of the songs?” he asked, teasingly. “There’s more songs you associate with us?”

“There’s a few more songs,” she said, averting her eyes from his. 

“You’ll have to play them for me sometime,” he said, pressing a kiss to her temple. “Promise me you’ll be careful tomorrow,” he said, running his fingers through her hair. “Abigael is half-demon.”

“So am I, Harry.” 

“Yes, but your good nature is much stronger. Abigael may only be half-demon, but she fully embraces their cruelty.” 

“I’ll be careful. I promise,” she leaned in to kiss him again. Their lips lingered as neither of them wanted to be the first to break. 

Reluctantly, he pulled back. “We both need to sleep. Do you think you’ll be able to get some rest?” 

“I’m going to try. I can’t keep depriving myself of sleep. But if I have a nightmare or the assassin tries to visit me again, can I come up here and sleep next to you?”

“Always,” Harry assured her. “My couch is always open to you.” He jokingly waggled his eyebrows at her.

“See, when you do that, I don’t even want to go downstairs,” Macy said, laughing. She looked him in the eye and paused. “Are you sure we’re doing the right thing, Harry?”

“Absolutely,” he said, pulling her in for a hug, relishing the feeling of being able to hold her in his arms, knowing she wasn't going to run from him this time. “Everything is going to be okay.” After a few more “just one last kisses,” Macy managed to make it back downstairs to her room.

They both managed to fall asleep. The only dreams she had that night were of the future with Harry. She got her first good night’s sleep in several weeks and woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. 

* * *

Macy headed to the Command Center where Harry and Mel were hard at work on the Book of Elders translation. Abigael was sitting in her chair, throwing out snarky comments every now and then. 

“How is the translation coming?” Macy asked. While Mel was looking down at the book, she reached out and grabbed Harry’s hand. He looked up at her and smiled. Mel looked back up and she dropped his hand.

“It’s slow, but the cypher has helped to speed things up a lot more,” Mel said. 

“Great,” Macy smiled. “Mel, can I borrow your fanny pack of potions?” She turned to look at Abigael. “This one and I are headed to Montana.”

“You’re going alone? With her?” Mel asked. “No, absolutely not. That’s insane. I’m not going to let you go out there alone with this double-crossing demon. I’m going with you.”

“Oh, I’ll feel so much safer with Fanny Pack Franny out there with us,” Abigael sneered. 

They both glared at Abigael. “Mel, you need to stay here and help Harry with the translation,” Macy argued.

“ _Harry_ is doing just fine with the translation on his own,” Harry chimed in. “And I would feel a lot better about this whole adventure if you took Mel with you. Please, Macy.” 

She realized she was outnumbered. She sighed. “Fine, then let’s go,” she said. 

She went over to the control board and pulled up Colman Strip, Montana on the witchboard. She opened a portal and lowered the forcefield for Abigael. She put a power-blocking cuff on Abigael, who just glared at Macy. “After you both,” she said as Mel and Abigael jumped through the portal.

Macy went to step through the portal, but Harry grabbed her hand. He pulled her in for a quick kiss. “Be careful, Macy. I’ll be here waiting for you.” She kissed him once more and then jumped through after the others. 

They landed on an abandoned road in the middle of a forest. All three looked around, trying to get their bearings.

“Is this it? Are we on the right track?” Macy asked Abigael. 

Abigael looked around for any familiar landmarks. “Okay, the woods...that sign. We’re in the right place. The truck was headed this way,” she said, pointing in front of her. “You know, I’m far more useful to you with my cuff off.”

“That’s debatable,” Macy said. She glared at Abby. “The cuff stays on.” 

A primal scream erupted in the distance. All three looked around frantically, trying to find its source. 

“What the fuck is that?” Mel asked, looking around. 

The trees just ahead began to rustle. The women froze in place. “Whatever you do, don’t move. They sound like Kyons to me,” Abigael said, also looking around for the beasts. 

“What are those?” Macy asked. “I’ve never heard of those before.” She looked at Abigael, who seemed almost nervous. 

‘They’re a magical beast that is deeply territorial and vicious,” Abigael explained.

“Macy, let’s go back through the portal. Do some reading about the Kyons. Talk with Harry and develop an actual plan,” Mel said. 

“Or we could just wing it,” Abigael said, as she ran off in the direction of the screams. 

The sisters looked at each other and ran off behind Abigael. “What the fuck is she thinking,” Mel muttered angrily. “Is she trying to get us killed?”

They found Abigael stopped in the center of the road. A large brown beast that appeared to be about ten feet tall reared back on its hindlegs and began to scream. 

“Holy shit,” Macy said.

“Well, I do believe we’ve found the kyon,” Abigael said, looking back over her shoulder. “Now is kind of where we come up with a plan.” 

The sisters looked at each other as the kyon moved closer to Abigael. “Oh, for the love of God, Macy. Throw a fireball at it, please,” Abigael yelled back. 

Macy tossed a fireball past the kyon, so that it would change direction and leave the women alone. Abigael walked in the other direction, towards the forest. “Are you ladies coming or not?” Abigael asked.

“Macy, I really think we should go back and figure out a more concrete game plan,” Mel said. “We don’t know anything about this creature and it’s gigantic.” 

“Let’s just go a little bit further. See if we can find any other clues as to what is happening. I promise we’ll go back at the first sign of trouble,” Macy said. Mel sighed and followed her into the forest to catch up with Abigael.

“Ah, I see you ladies are finally seeing reason,” Abigael sneered at them. “And look what I found here.” She pointed down at a puddle of a fluorescent-green acid-like substance. 

“The assassin’s poison,” Macy said. “He’s been here. I want to get a sample of it and bring it back to the Command Center. Maybe I can figure out more about its chemical make-up.”

“Macy, how do we know that Abigael didn’t plant that? How do we know she isn’t working with the assassin?” Mel asked. 

“I am not the killer around here. That would be you all,” Abigael said, crossing her arms and glaring at Mel.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Mel asked, confused. 

“That means that the Charmed Ones killed my father and my brother. Allow me to properly introduce myself. Abigael Jameson-Caine,” Abigael said with a flourish of her hand. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.” 

“No way,” Mel said. Parker had never said anything about having a sister. She turned to Macy, who appeared just as confused. 

“This time, I am actually telling the truth. And don’t worry about killing my father and brother. I hated the both of them. Just wanted to point out that you’re not as innocent as you seem to think you are,” Abigael said. 

* * *

While Mel and Macy were with Abigael, Harry continued to work at the translation. Maggie ran into the Command Center. “Harry! Harry! I think I got my power back! Or some variation of it,” she yelled, excitedly. 

“What? How? That’s great news,” he said, excited to have something work out in the Charmed Ones’ favors.

“I don’t know. I was talking to Jordan, the boxing instructor. I put my hand on his and I saw a vision, but I think it was of the future or something. It wasn’t fully clear,” she said, her hands waving around as she tried to explain things.

“Foresight. It looks like your powers are developing as they’re returning. What did you see?” 

“Oh, um, Jordan said he loved me,” she said, blushing. “It was weird.”

He raised his eyebrows and smiled. “Well, we’ll just have to see how things turn out, won’t we?” The youngest sister seemed flustered. He was relieved for some bit of normalcy in her life. She deserved it. He would just need to learn more about this Jordan and make sure he was worthy of Maggie. 

“Yeah, so how is it going? Where are Mel and Macy?” she said, looking around for her sisters. 

“Your sisters took Abigael to Montana to try to figure out more information about the assassin,” he grumbled. “I’m here trying to translate this infernal book. Look at this letter here. What does it look like to you?”

“Um, let me see. I think that’s an E,” she said, leaning closer to the book.

“That would make the word ‘tessera,’” he said as the cypher lit up and ran across the floor to the wall. “Which is Latin for password. Brilliant.”

They followed the cypher to the wall. A square lit up on the wall as if it were the door of a safe. A handle appeared. He reached out and turned it. Inside was an envelope containing a magical driver’s license and some billing paperwork for the Tulipe Institute. 

“I’m so close to a breakthrough here, I can feel it,” he said, sighing. 

“If anyone can figure it out, it’s you, Harry,” she reassured him. “Do you need anything? I can grab you some coffee or take over with the book for a while.”

“No, that’s okay. I really want to be the one to figure this out. I just need to know more about how Whitelighters, how I, was created. You keep working upstairs. See if you can make any further developments with your powers,” he told her. 

“Okay. Just let me know if you need anything.”

Shortly after Maggie left the Command Center, the portal opened as Macy and Mel came back through with Abigael. 

“Harry!” Macy said, running over to him. “We need to know everything you know about Kyons.”

“Oh, fuck, you found a kyon,” he said. “Those are incredibly dangerous.” 

“Yeah, no shit, Harry,” Mel said. “We’ve figured that much out.” Harry and Macy glared at Mel. “Sorry, just a little on edge at the moment,” she said. 

“By which she means she is completely out of her element and she’s freaking out,” Abigael snarked.

Macy turned her glare to Abigael. “Don’t make us put the forcefield back up,” she said. She turned back to Harry. “Alright, so give us everything you’ve got.” 

“Right, kyons or skincrawlers. They’re blind, so they depend on their hearing to hunt. They are extremely territorial and will eat whatever or whoever is the slowest,” he said. 

“Okay, got it. So, what potions do we have to help us with this?” Macy asked. 

“You could just uncuff me and you wouldn’t have to rely on a potion,” Abigael said. 

“Ignoring that stupid suggestion,” she said, glaring at the Overlord. “What do we have to use?” she asked, turning back to him.

He started going through the cabinet of potions they had created so far. “Here is an immobilizing potion. You can just blow that onto the kyon and it will freeze in place. Though depending on the strength of the kyon, it might not work for very long. If you have a few moments, I can brew you a sound-dampening potion that will cloak any sounds you make.” 

“We can wait for that potion,” Mel said. “What do we need for it?” 

Harry wrote down the list of ingredients and Mel went up to Kat’s shop to grab the supplies.

“Are you okay?” Harry asked Macy, moving closer to her and grabbing her hand.

“I’m fine. We’ve just spotted the kyon so far. I threw a fireball at it to get it to run the other way. Other than that, we’re unscathed,” she said. “How are you doing? Any breakthroughs?”

“Yes, actually. I found a safe with some paperwork in it for the Tulipe Institute. That name sounds so familiar, but I can’t place it,” he said. 

“I know exactly what it is. Come with me,” she said. She grabbed Harry’s hand and led him out of the Command Center into the hallway. They stopped in front of an informational plaque on the wall. “The Tulipe Institute. It was an asylum where women who were believed to be witches were kept.” 

“So, why would we have bills from them?” he asked, puzzled. 

“I don’t know. You might have to go there and figure it out,” she said.

“Yes, let me brew your potion first and then we’ll go fight the kyon. Then I’ll figure out why Tulipe is important,” he said, turning back towards the Command Center. 

She grabbed his hand and pulled him back towards her. “Harry, we can handle the kyon. Figuring out what is in the Book of Elders is vital. You need to follow this lead.”

“What if something happens and you need to be healed?” he argued. 

“We will be fine. I get that you always want to protect us, but we are going to be fine,” she said, touching her hand against his face.

“I just worry about you,” he said. “And about Mel. You both are so vulnerable without your powers. I know you have your demon powers, but still.” 

“I know. But you can help us be less vulnerable by finding out what is in the Book.”

“I hate that you’re right about this,” he sighed. 

She looked around to make sure Mel and Maggie weren’t in sight. She found an open supply closet and pulled him inside.

“What are you doing?” he asked, laughing. 

“This,” she said as she leaned in to kiss him. “I’ve been wanting to do that since we came back and somehow hearing you say that I’m right was a huge turn-on.” She placed her arms around him and pulled herself closer to him.

He chuckled and leaned down to return her kiss. “Well, then I will just have to tell you are right all the time. Because you’re brilliant, Macy Vaughn.” 

They spent another minute or so trading kisses back and forth. As they were both starting to become more worked up, she pulled back. “Okay, we need to get back downstairs. As much as I want to stay in here all day with you, we’ve got stuff to do. I just couldn’t go any longer into my day without kissing you again,” she said. 

“Again, you’re right. Mel should be back with all the potion ingredients by now. And we just left Abigael in there,” he said. He leaned in to give her one last kiss. 

She peeked her head out the supply closet door and checked to make sure Mel and Maggie wouldn’t spot them.

“The coast is clear,” she whispered back at him. 

The two headed back down to the Command Center where the other two were waiting for them. 

“Where did you guys go?” Mel asked as Abigael raised a knowing eyebrow. 

“Harry had a breakthrough with the Book of Elders and I recognized the name of something from the signs in the hallway upstairs,” Macy said. “I just wanted to show him.”

“Oh, okay. Well, let’s get this potion made and get back out there,” Mel said.

Harry started brewing the sound-dampening potion. Mel and Macy provided assistance as needed. Shortly thereafter, they had everything bottled and were ready to head back to Montana.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Macy said. She pulled out the vial of the assassin’s poison. “There was a puddle of this on the ground. I grabbed a sample, so we could do some chemical analysis of it.” 

He smiled at her. “You are brilliant,” he told her softly. He started to lean in to kiss her, but caught himself as he realized Mel and Abigael were still in the room. “We’ll look more closely at this when you return.” 

Mel opened the portal and jumped through. Abigael was right behind her.

“Go to Tulipe. We’ll be fine,” Macy said as she gave him another quick kiss. “Good luck.”

“Good luck to you, too,” he said. 

Macy jumped through the portal and landed next to Mel. “Alright, let’s go back into the forest,” she said. 

They started to walk deeper into the forest. “So, what is the story with that delicious friend of yours?” Abigael asked.

“Who? Harry?” Mel asked. 

Macy glared at Abigael. “Yes, Harold. He’s such a beautiful specimen of a man, wouldn’t you agree, Macy?” Abigael asked.

“Harry is a kind and decent man and you need to back the hell off of him,” she said in a threatening tone. 

“I was merely asking if he was available for a little romantic rendezvous,” Abigael said, thrilled to have found another button to push. “Is he currently attached to anyone? He seems like he would know how to please a woman.” 

“Harry is certainly not available to you,” Mel scoffed, glaring at Abigael.

“Oh? So, he isn’t dating anyone? No one he’s stealing kisses from when no one else is around? Are you sure about that?” Abigael said, her lips curling into a smile.

“What is she talking about?” Mel asked Macy.

“Nothing. She’s just trying to fuck with us. Look, let’s check in that cave up here,” Macy said, pointing to an opening ahead. 

Mel walked ahead to the cave. Macy grabbed Abigael by the arm and pulled her back. “I don’t know what the fuck you think you know, but you know nothing. And keep Harry’s name out of your mouth. Do you understand me?” she said, glaring at the Overlord. 

“Ah, so your sisters don’t know about your little entanglement, then? I wonder what would happen if they were to find out,” Abigael said. 

“Shut up. Let’s just find this freaking kyon,” she said, turning away from Abigael. 

Macy ran ahead and joined Mel in the cave. Abigael followed right behind. “This must be a piece of its antler,” Mel said, picking up a fragment from the cave floor.

“Look at these markings. They took the kyon queen,” Abigael said. 

“So, if they’re blind, then kyons communicate through pheromones, like ants?” Macy asked.

“Yes, that’s right,” Abigael said.

“We have the queen’s antler. Maybe we could commandeer the pheromones, use them in a tracking potion,” Macy said. 

“I know one we can use to find out where the kyon is. It’s back at the Command Center,” Mel said.

“If we find the queen, we’ll find the assassin,” Macy said.

“Oh, goody, another potion,” Abigael said, rolling her eyes.

“Just ignore her,” Macy said to Mel. “Your potions are going to bring us straight to the assassin.” 

* * *

The group portaled back to the Command Center. Maggie sat there keeping an eye on the witchboard. “There you guys are. I came to see how things were going, but no one was here,” Maggie said.

“Harry is on a quest for the Book of Elders. I think we’re about to find the assassin,” Macy explained.

“Omigod, I’m going with you guys,” Maggie said. “Plus, I think I’m getting my powers back, so I might actually be able to be useful.” She smiled with excitement over the development in her powers. 

“What? How?” Mel asked. 

“I don’t know. I just know that I touched Jordan earlier and I had a vision. Harry thinks I might be developing foresight,” Maggie said. She was just slightly bouncing up and down with excitement. 

“Maggie, that’s great,” Macy said, smiling at her sister.

“Here it is. The tracking potion,” Mel said, pulling it from the cabinet. “I need Harry’s compass. Let me go find it.” She walked away. 

“So, is this how you did it? Some dark mysterious potion in the family slow cooker?” Abigael asked, her arms crossed.

“What is she talking about?” Maggie asked, confused.

“Just ignore her,” Macy said, glaring at Abigael.

“When you and your sisters killed my brother and father,” Abigael said, ignoring Macy. “Alistair and Hunter Caine.”

“Wait, you’re Parker’s sister,” Maggie said. “What? Where is he? Is he okay?”

“Not now,” Macy said, looking at the two. “We need to focus on the kyon first. There will be time for questions later.”

Maggie glared at Abigael. “Like I told your sisters, I’m not mad about what you did. They got exactly what they deserved. Just curious how it happened. I need closure, I guess you could say,” Abigael sneered.

“Is that how you demons roll? Just stab each other in the back with no remorse, no sense of loss?” Macy asked. 

“And how should I feel? My father had an affair with a witch and then spent his life calling me an abomination. I’m supposed to mourn his loss? I’ll never know if it disappointed my father more that I was a half-witch or a whole woman.” She paused, looking down in frustration. She had not meant to reveal that much of herself to the sisters. “Where did your demon powers come from?” she asked, curiously. 

“I was stillborn. My parents used a necromancer to bring me back and it infused me with demon blood.” 

“So, we’re both refugees from the demon world then. I bet you would find we have more in common than you think,” she said, trying to find common ground between the two of them. 

“Yeah, just stuck on that whole part where you tried to murder me. Once I can get past that, I’m sure we’ll be best friends forever.”

Mel came back in with the compass. “Alright, let’s try this out,” she said. She dripped the potion on the antler, but there was no movement on the compass. 

“There’s not enough living material left in the antler,” Abigael said. “We need to find another way. Something that doesn’t involve a stupid potion, please.”

“I have an idea,” Mel said. She grabbed the antler and placed it in her pocket. She took the vial of the potion and drank it all. 

“What are you doing?” Maggie yelled.

Mel instantly began to convulse as she fell to the ground. Her eyes glowed white. She jumped up, ran to the witchboard, moved the control button to a location, and opened a portal to Wisconsin. Without looking back, she ran through it. The others all looked at each other and quickly jumped through after Mel.

They landed in a warehouse. As they walked through a plastic curtain, they saw a series of pneumatic tubes lining the walls. A mist permeated the room, causing each of them to cough periodically from the extra water vapor. Macy pulled out a flashlight and they walked closer. Inside each tube was a different creature. “What are all these things?” Maggie asked. 

“Well, this is a banshee empress,” Abigael said, looking into one container. “She went missing a few weeks back. Top of the banshee food chain. You don’t want to mess with that one.” 

Macy walked over to a computer and began to look through the files. There was a comprehensive list of every creature in the room. “There’s a basilisk, a griffin, a Kyon.”

“It’s like a zoo,” Abigael said, confused.

“The empress of the banshees, the queen of the Kyons…” Macy said. 

“Omigod, the assassin is a trophy hunter,” Maggie said. “He’s trying to collect every type of magical creature he can find and he’s looking for the most powerful of each kind. Like us.”

“And he’s keeping them alive,” Macy continued. “The mist being pumped into those tubes. He’s keeping them sedated. Where’s Mel?” she asked, looking around.

They heard banging coming from the other side of the room. Mel had a pickaxe and was beating a control panel, shattering each gauge. One of the tubes opened and a kyon walked out. Mel shrieked and walked towards the creature. 

Maggie’s phone began to ring as the kyon turned back towards the women. “Seriously? Macy, this would be a great time to uncuff me,” Abigael said. 

Macy hesitated for a moment before realizing they needed the extra power. “Don’t make me regret this,” she said as she took off Abigael’s power blocker. Macy turned and ran over to the other side of the room to get a different angle on the kyon.

Abigael pulled together a fireball to throw at the kyon. Mel saw it and knocked Abigael’s hand out of the way, eliminating the flame. She went over in front of the kyon and kneeled down. The kyon mirrored Mel’s pose, let out a shriek, and then ran away.

“I think she was thanking her,” Maggie said, in awe. 

The sisters and Abigael heard other tubes shattering. “We need to get out of here,” Abigael said. “We don’t want to be here when all those creatures get loose.”

“Agreed,” Maggie said. 

They looked over to Macy, who was still kneeling on the floor across the aisle from them. Just behind her, Harry orbed in and walked over to her. 

“Harry? You can orb again,” Macy said, excited. 

“Yes, it’s a long story. I’ll tell you later,” Harry said. “Quick. Let’s get out of here. Tell the others we’ll meet them back home.” 

Macy started to tense up. Something didn’t feel right. Harry would never take only Macy. He would orb over to the other side of the room and grab the others as well. This wasn’t her Harry. 

“What’s the code word?” she asked. 

“There’s no time,” he said, irritated. “Just tell them it’s okay to go back.”

She turned to look at her sisters and Abigael. “He’s here,” she said. “Go back home.” She subtly shook her head at her sisters. She hoped they would understand something was wrong. Harry orbed them out of the warehouse.

“That wasn’t Harry, was it?” Maggie asked Mel, who was coming out of the effects of the potion.

“Harry would never leave us behind,” Mel said. “Not unless there was something terribly wrong.”

“We need to get back home. Now,” Maggie said, throwing the marble to open the portal. 

They walked back into the Command Center. “Nice job out there today,” Abigael said.

“Oh, I get it. If I had real powers, I wouldn’t have needed the potion,” Mel said, throwing the forcefield back around Abigael.

“No, it took real bravery to down that potion the way you did. Or pure stupidity, you can pick whichever one you want it to be,” Abigael said. “You guys go home and find Macy.”

“It almost sounds like you care about our sister,” Maggie said, skeptically.

“I just know what that assassin can do when he has someone. I would never claim to care about a Charmed One,” Abigael said, moving over to her makeshift bed and turning her back on the sisters. 

* * *

Harry sat at home, staring into the fire and thinking about everything he learned that day at the Tulipe Institute. He was certain now that the assassin wasn’t a shapeshifter. It was a piece of Harry. All the bad parts of him. The Darklighter to his Whitelighter. He sipped on a glass of scotch, his second since coming home. 

When he needed a distraction to the thoughts of the Darklighter, he had started looking up places he could take Macy on their first date. He needed her to come home. He needed to process everything he had learned. He just needed to see her, feel her calming presence. He heard the door open and went over to meet whoever it was.

Mel and Maggie entered, frantically looking around. “Where is she?” Maggie yelled. “Where’s Macy?”

“Isn’t she with you?” Harry asked, instantly worried.

“It was him. It was the assassin. I knew Macy was trying to tell us something,” Mel said. “She had a look on her face like something was wrong.”

“He has her,” he said, the color draining from his face. “My Darklighter has her.”

* * *

Somewhere across the country, Macy was lying in a bed. She felt groggy, as if she had been drugged. She wanted to wake up. She knew something was wrong. She couldn’t fight the overwhelming urge to continue sleeping. She felt a body in the bed behind her, pressed against her. A hand caressed her side.

“Just rest, my love,” a familiar voice said. “I’ve got you.” 

Macy fell back asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to read this far. If you'd like to leave a comment or kudos, it is very much appreciated. I'll be back next Sunday with the next chapter. 
> 
> And for any American readers, don't forget to vote on Tuesday!


	6. Chapter Six: The Truth About Kat and Dogs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry, Maggie, and Mel continue to search for Macy. Maggie and Mel attempt a tracking spell. Harry taps into his own memories with the help of Abigael.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy America Has a New President Day! Apologies if there are any slight typos or inaccuracies. I'm doing my final read-through on cold medicine. Thank you to everyone who has read, commented, or left kudos so far. I hope you all continue to enjoy it! 
> 
> As always, a massive thank you to my beta katasstropheee. Without her, this story would make far less sense. 
> 
> Some dialogue borrowed from 2x05: The Truth About Kat and Dogs.

It had been 36 hours since the Darklighter took Macy. Harry stood bleary-eyed in front of the witchboard. He only left the Command Center to respond to any red lights that appeared. Even then, he only went when Maggie and Mel were occupied elsewhere. He didn’t want to leave the board unattended on the off chance he missed the light that would lead him to Macy. Every red light gave him hope he was about to find her, but he kept returning with the disappointment of finding a different witch in trouble. 

A portal opened, signaling Mel and Maggie’s return. He looked up hopefully, his stomach swirling with anticipation. He was crushed again when only two of the sisters returned.

“So, Clay City wasn’t her?” he asked in a monotone.

“No, we got another witch out, but Macy was nowhere to be found,” Mel said.

“While you were gone, I checked lights in Jacksonville and Provo, but no success,” he said. 

“Why isn’t she lighting up? I don’t understand,” Maggie said, confused.

“I don’t know,” he muttered to himself. Every minute she was gone terrified him. Every second without a light on the board to represent her made him think the worst. Was she already dead? Would they ever find her again? Would he ever get to hear her laugh again? Feel her in his arms? Kiss her soft lips? 

“Is the board broken, do you think? It just doesn’t make sense,” Maggie kept asking. Naturally, she was looking to Harry for guidance, but he had no idea what to tell them anymore. 

“I don’t know! I don’t know! Damn it, I don’t fucking know,” he yelled, throwing his empty coffee cup across the room. 

Mel and Maggie stared at their Whitelighter. They had never seen him this upset before. They could see the toll this was taking on him. He hadn’t slept since Macy went missing. They doubted he had anything to eat. His eyes were bloodshot as if he had hardly even blinked for fear of missing his path back to Macy. 

“Harry,” Mel said, moving closer to him and putting her hand on his arm. “We can watch the board for a while. Why don’t you go get some rest? Or get something to eat? Hell, just drink a glass of water. We’ve got this.” 

“No, I can’t. I’m fine,” Harry said, shrugging off her hand. “We have to be ready at any moment.”

“Harry, if you collapse from exhaustion, we won’t be ready to fight the Darklighter,” Maggie said, nervously. “Macy needs you, but she needs you at your best.”

He sat down in his chair and put his head in his hands. He took a shaky breath in and looked back at the sisters.

“I cannot rest knowing that Macy is out there with that monster. I cannot lose her. Do you understand? I cannot lose Macy,” he said, his voice smaller than Mel or Maggie had ever heard him speak.

“We’re all worried about Macy,” Maggie said. 

“I am terrified for her,” he said, looking Maggie directly in the eye. “I am not leaving this room until we have some sort of a lead on where she could be. Do not ask me again to take a break or go take a nap or eat a goddamn snack. I am staying here. Is that clear?”

The sisters looked at each other. They had never seen him this intense before. 

Abigael sat in her forcefield watching the interaction between Harry and the sisters. “You really care for her, don’t you?” Abigael said, her eyes narrowing as she studied him. “Not like you care for the others.”

He turned his gaze to the half-demon. His eyes flashed with fury. “We are not talking about this. Unless you have some sort of insight on Macy’s location, kindly shut the fuck up,” Harry said through gritted teeth. 

“There is one thing we could try,” Mel hesitantly suggested. “I remember seeing a tracking spell in the Book of Shadows. Absum veri.”

He quickly turned back to Mel. “That spell is banned for a reason. The last witch to try it was never found again.”

“We have no other leads. We can’t just sit here waiting for a red light to pop up and hope that it’s her,” Maggie said. “I’m with Mel. I vote we try the tracking spell.” 

“Just, please be careful. I can’t lose the two of you as well,” Harry said, softly. “I’ll stay here and continue to scour the Book of Elders. If anything goes wrong, anything at all, you call for me immediately. Understood?”

“Of course, Harry. We’re going to find her,” Maggie said. 

“We must,” Harry said. 

* * *

Mel and Maggie got home and started to gather the items needed for Absum Veri. “Mel, is Harry okay?” she asked, nervously. “I know he cares about all of us, but I’ve never seen him this intense before.”

“I don’t know, but we need to find Macy soon. Harry can’t last much longer at this current pace. And we have no idea what the Darklighter is doing to her,” Mel said. “The sooner we get started, the better. Absum Veri requires us to say an incantation over three items belonging to the missing person. We need something that Macy dreads, something she denies herself, and something she desires. The dread should be specific to her and current.” 

They looked at each other, lost with where to start. A bottle of tequila caught Maggie’s eye. She thought back to her birthday party, to Macy pouring out shots for herself. “She hates being out of control,” she said, picking up the alcohol.

Mel looked around the kitchen. “She denies herself dairy. She flipped out on us over the almond milk that one time.” She grabbed a bottle of almond milk out of the refrigerator. “Now, for something she desires. That one’s easy.”

Maggie said “family” at the same time Mel said “career.”

“She was going to leave us behind for that job at that lab in Ann Arbor. Macy clearly values her career more than family,” Mel said.

“Yes, Macy is ambitious, but her deepest desire was to grow up with mom and us,” Maggie argued.

“She accepted that,” Mel said. “She understood why it couldn’t happen.” 

“You don’t just accept that you can’t have your family. Look, I’m the empath here, so if anyone understands emotion, it’s me. I’m pulling rank.” She went to find the photo of Marisol and Macy framed in the hallway. 

They drew out three intersecting circles with a powder and placed the bottle of tequila, a glass of almond milk, and the picture in each. 

“Are you ready for this?” Mel asked Maggie. 

“Let’s bring our sister home,” she nodded. 

The sisters began to recite: “Ancient spirits, Macy Vaughn, our dear eldest sister has up and gone. We must retrieve her. Heed our call. Track down our sister before night’s fall. Qui abest reperieteur.” 

They looked at each other, waiting for something to happen. A large dog with glowing yellow eyes appeared in the living room in front of them. The dog growled and lurched forward towards the sisters. 

“Shit,” Maggie yelled, standing up quicker than she had ever moved. She went to one end of the dining room table. “Help me move this.” Mel helped her push it into the opening. They grabbed the dining room chairs and started laying them on top of the table, setting up a blockade high enough the dog wouldn’t be able to jump over it. “What the hell is that thing?” 

“I don’t know, but I don’t think that worked,” Mel said. “I told you Macy’s desire was her career. She’s always valued her job over family.” 

“You think Macy dealt with her feelings for mom, but I know you’re wrong about that part,” Maggie argued. “What if we’re wrong about her dread or what she denies herself?” 

“Or you’re wrong about Macy. We’re at different spots in our life, Maggie.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at her older sister. 

“Meaning you’re younger than us. You’re still focused on guys over what you’re going to do with the rest of your life.” 

“Excuse me, did I miss the part where you have some grand plans for your career?” she asked, sarcastically. “And Parker wasn’t just some guy. I was in love with him.”

“He was a half demon who tried to steal your powers to help his family.” 

“He apologized for that. And the situation was a lot more complicated. He was trying to get rid of his demon side. He wanted to be fully human,” she argued. 

“And he was willing to sacrifice your powers in order to make that happen.”

“Enough. We need to focus on Macy. Let me figure out something to placate the hellhound and we’ll try again.”

“This time, we’ll go with Macy’s desire being her career, which is what we should have done all along,” Mel said, grabbing a brochure for the Bioethical Research Lab. 

The younger sister glared at her as she grabbed a loaf of tofurkey out of the refrigerator. She nodded to Mel and they stepped into the backyard. They moved over to the garden shed as the dog burst through the open door of the house. Maggie threw the tofurkey loaf inside the shed and the dog ran in after it. Mel slammed the door shut and locked it. She nodded to Maggie and they went back inside the house. 

Mel prepared the circles again. They placed the alcohol, almond milk, and brochure in each of the circles. “Take two,” Mel said.

“Ancient spirits, Macy Vaughn, our dear eldest sister has up and gone. We must retrieve her. Heed our call. Track down our sister before night’s fall. Qui abest reperieteur,” the sisters recited together.

They paused and looked at each other. An even larger dog burst through the door, heading directly for the sisters. Maggie screamed as she and Mel ran upstairs to Mel’s room and locked the door.

“Every time we get it wrong, the dog gets bigger,” Maggie said. “We have to get it right this time.”

“We can’t afford another mistake,” Mel agreed. “We just need to get into Macy’s head. How are we supposed to do that?”

“Wait, Macy keeps a journal,” she said. “It’s a total invasion of privacy, but she would understand. We have to get to her room.”

They looked at each other, nervously. “We’re just going to have to make a break for it,” Mel said. “Macy needs us.” 

The sisters slowly opened the bedroom door. They looked both ways for the demon hound and tiptoed into the hallway. They managed to make it to Macy’s room, just as the dog burst up the stairs towards them.

“That was way too close,” Maggie said, catching her breath. “This is our last chance. We can’t fight off a bigger dog than that one.”

“I think Macy keeps the journal in her nightstand,” she said, going over to the drawers and opening it. “Aha! Here it is!”

“Okay, let’s do this,” the younger sister said, silently apologizing to Macy for the betrayal of trust.

They opened the journal and out fell a picture of Macy and Harry. The two of them were laughing and she had her head on his shoulder. For the first time, Maggie noticed how Harry looked at Macy. He looked peaceful, as if his shoulder were made for her head to rest upon it. Her eyes were closed, the most content Maggie had ever seen her. They didn’t look like friends in this picture. Maggie tilted her head to the side, studying the photo. 

“Aw, I remember this day,” Mel said. “You were doing that photo collage of your family for Kappa and made us all take pictures together for hours.” 

“I miss all the stupid stuff Kappa made me do,” she said, sadly. “Okay, let’s keep going. It looks like the latest entry is just from a few days ago.”

_ I’m so nervous. I’m so worried I’m doing something monumentally stupid. I feel selfish for even acting on this, but I can’t dance around these feelings anymore. Every time I’m near him, my heart feels like it’s going to explode. I worry constantly about how this is going to affect Mel and Maggie. How this is going to affect our lives as the Charmed Ones. But every time I see him, I can’t stop myself. I know what it feels like to kiss him. I know what it feels like to have his arms around me. I know what it feels like to have him inside of me. That knowledge is intoxicating. When I see him, I just want to drag him to bed and have my way with him. We need to be focused on other things, but he consumes my every thought. I’ve gone months without touching him. I did everything I could to avoid him, but we keep getting thrown back together. Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something? Maybe I should just throw caution to the wind and be with him? I just don’t know what to do. I wish I could talk to Maggie and Mel about this, but it would be too awkward. In the meantime, I’m just going to try to avoid situations where I’m alone with him. When we’re alone, somehow, we always end up together. We nearly kissed again tonight. He’s like a damn magnet. Why must he be so irresistible? _

“Damn, she has it bad,” Maggie said. “Wait, she knows what it feels like to have him inside of her? Is she talking about who I think she’s talking about?” 

“I’m 90 percent certain we’re thinking of the same person, but we need to get this right. Keep going,” Mel said. She couldn’t believe they had missed these signs. She thought back over every interaction between the two of them, looking for any indication of a deeper relationship. 

“Fine, this one looks like it’s from sometime over the summer,” Maggie said, flipping through the pages. 

_ I got the job in Ann Arbor. I don’t know how I’m going to tell Mel and Maggie. They’re going to be the easy ones to tell, though. I don’t know how I’m going to tell Harry. He’s going to be crushed. He looked devastated when we were talking after the satyrs stood us up. He was so certain he had done something wrong. All he has done is love me. He asked me if I wanted to be with him. It took everything I had to lie to him. I wanted to scream, “Yes, yes, all I want is to be with you.” But it’s going to be too complicated. Everything always ends badly. And we can’t lose Harry. I can’t do that to Mel and Maggie. Or what if they picked Harry over me? And I lost all of them? No, I just have to accept that I’m not meant to be with the man I love. Maybe the distance will help. Or I’ll just still want him from two hours away. Why? Why did I have to fall for the one person I can’t have? _

“Wait, that’s why she wanted to leave?” Mel said. “It wasn’t her being ambitious. She was running away from her feelings...for Harry?”

“How did we completely miss this?” Maggie asked her sister. “This was all going on right under our noses.” 

“It makes sense. Macy was MIA as much as possible this summer. I thought she was just a workaholic.”

Maggie caught a glimpse of her name in an entry a few pages later. “Uh, Mel, I think we need to read one more.” 

_ What the fuck have I done? Fucking Maggie convincing us we needed to go dancing. Fucking tequila. Ugh, I can’t even blame the tequila. I started flirting with him before we started drinking. I didn’t even know Harry owned jeans. His ass looked amazing. Or the stupid shirt that looked so hot. I just wanted to rip it off of him the entire night we were in the club. I mean, I did rip it off him when we went back to his place. These dreams have been torturing me for weeks. Every time Harry licks his lips, I think of kissing him. I look at his hands and think of how I want them on my body. I don’t think I’ve ever used my vibrator this much. But god, the reality? The reality is so much better. I only lasted one song dancing with him before I was gone. His arms were wrapped around me. His breath felt hot on my neck. I felt him hard against me and I just couldn’t take it anymore. I felt possessed. And then, we got back to his place. The feeling of his mouth against mine. Of him eating me out. Dear lord, the man knows how to use his mouth. And then the feeling of him inside of me. He was bigger than I thought he would be. He was the perfect mix of gentle and aggressive. I didn’t know it was possible for me to cum three times in one go. I can’t imagine ever having better sex than that. I’m still sore. I spent the night wrapped in his arms. I’ve never had a better night’s sleep in my life. But then I woke up and I panicked. We can’t do this again. It’s just too complicated. No, it has to be a one-time thing. But how am I going to be able to work with him? How am I going to be around him again, knowing what I know now? Why do I have to fuck up every good thing in my life? _

Mel and Maggie looked at each other, their jaws dropped.

“Three times? Damn, Harry,” Maggie said, slightly impressed. 

“I don’t know that I can ever look Harry in the eye again,” Mel said. “Seriously, how did we miss this?”

“We’ve both been pretty wrapped up in our own things since last spring,” Maggie said. “And it’s not like either Macy or Harry are particularly forthcoming with their emotions? It explains why Harry is so upset right now, though. If he feels for her what she clearly feels for him.” 

“Harry works for all of these,” Mel realized. “She very clearly desires him to a higher degree than I ever wanted to even think about. She dreads how much she wants him. She’s denying herself a relationship with him.”

“This is our last shot. If we’re wrong, that demon dog will eat us. But I think you’re right.”

As the hellhound tried to knock through the wall, Maggie and Mel prepared a circle. They placed the picture of Macy and Harry in the center. The sisters looked at each other and took a deep breath. 

“Ancient spirits, Macy Vaughn, our dear eldest sister has up and gone. We must retrieve her. Heed our call. Track down our sister before night’s fall. Qui abest reperieteur,” the sisters recited together.

This time, a smaller dog appeared and laid down on the bed. Its eyes turned red and flashed numbers onto the wall. 91.3535 degrees north, 181.1206 degrees west. 

“We’ve got her,” Maggie said, smiling. They finally had a lead on how to get to their sister. For the first time since they had last seen Macy in the warehouse, she felt hopeful. 

* * *

While Maggie and Mel were doing the tracking spell, Harry continued to try to translate the Book of Elders while keeping an eye on the witchboard. He must have been on his tenth cup of coffee so far today. He had to keep going, though. Staying busy was the only thing keeping him from completely losing it. He kept having flashes of what the Darklighter could be doing to Macy. 

“Any news from that dusty old book of yours? The clock is ticking. Macy’s been gone for what is it, two days now?” Abigael asked from the other side of the room. 

“Do you ever stop talking? This is not a game. Macy is in danger. So, if you know something, say it. Otherwise, just shut up,” he said, glaring at her.

“Well, since you asked so nicely, I did have one idea,” she said, smugly. 

“And, what is it?” 

“I’m guessing if you share a psychic connection of some sort, it’s feasible you share a connection of sorts where you know what he knows and vice versa,” she said. 

“How would I even access that?” he asked. The blood drained from Harry’s face. “If he shares that level of connection to me, then he would likely feel what I feel for Macy, wouldn’t he?”

“I would guess that is highly possible,” she agreed.

“So, he has the same intensity of my feelings while also having no goodness to him?” he said, more to himself than her. 

“Exactly.” 

“If you have a way for me to access that connection, I need to know how to do it right now,” he said, going over to the forcefield.

“We need to start at the beginning. The point where you and the Darklighter were created,” she said.

“I’ve been trying to do that. The Elders wiped my memory,” he said, turning away and frustratedly running his hands through his hair. “I’ve been over it constantly and I just can’t remember anything.”

“In exchange for my freedom, I might be able to help you. There is a special skill the demons in my family line possess. You will be able to relive certain key memories. Every joy and pleasure. Every pain and suffering. Let me give you pain and pleasure, Harry,” she said, with a wicked smirk on her face. 

He sighed in irritation. “If you cut the sexual innuendo and just focus on helping me, then I will break you out, against my better judgment.”

She pouted. “Oh, but Harold, I do so love riling you up like this. If you would just let me, I could give you even more pleasure and a little pain for fun. I bet you would like what I can do.”

“How can I access the memories?” he said, lowering the forcefield. 

She walked over and put her hand on his chest. “Take me upstairs and I’ll create a demon mind meld.”

He placed his hand over hers and moved it from his chest. “Just do it.”

They walked upstairs to Safe Space. She placed her hands on his temples and focused her energy. The space became vacant as he looked around.

“So, my inner sanctum is Safe Space?” he asked.

“It just takes the appearance of wherever your physical body is. Now, we just wander around and see what appears,” she said. 

Harry saw a cloaked woman walk by. He wanted to approach her, but he felt scared to do so. He heard the familiar sounds of “Happy Birthday” and walked over to the other side of the room.

A small boy sat in front of a birthday cake with candles in it. Harry realized the boy was the younger version of him. He remembered this birthday. His grandmother always made his favorite chocolate cake for his birthdays. He could almost taste the rich chocolate with the fudge icing. He realized this must be why he loved the chocolate cake Macy made occasionally. 

He saw his younger self hug his grandmother. Other memories come flooding back. Sitting in front of the piano while his grandmother taught him how to play. Sitting in the pew of the church next to his grandmother. Going to her house after school and playing with the other children in her neighborhood. 

Then he remembered standing in a cemetery next to her gravesite when she died. He was only 14. He remembered the overwhelming sadness he felt. She was the first important person he ever lost. 

“Grandma Willa,” he whispered. “She was my favorite person in the whole world. No one understood me better than her.” He walked away, hoping to find a happier set of memories elsewhere.

Harry smelled the familiar scent of tobacco and scotch as he walked over to another room. He saw his father sitting in his chair listening to the radio. He remembered the strained relationship with him. His dad was cold, austere. He was always getting into trouble at school. He remembered being backhanded on more than one occasion by his father after he got into yet another schoolyard brawl. His mother would tend the wounds he received from his father and tell him he needed to do better at not making his father mad. The only time there was peace was when they sat and listened to the radio together. He stood there just a moment longer before the sound of soft laughter from another room took his attention. 

He saw a group of teenagers sitting together, playing Spin the Bottle. Harry remembered this party. His friend Charles was turning 13. This was his first kiss. Her name was Janie. He was so nervous. All week, Charles had been talking about this party and how Janie really liked Harry. He engineered the whole game to help him. He remembered his hands were cold and clammy. He could almost taste the bubblegum she had been chewing just before kissing him.

“Ooh, first kiss, how scandalous,” Abigael said. “Now, we need to go deeper. We need to really break down those walls. Considering it’s you, it might take a sledgehammer. Let’s find out what is in the dark recesses of your mind.” She grabbed his arm and dragged him away. 

He walked into what he realized was the kitchen of his house. He remembered picking out the house with Clara, how excited she was about the light that streamed into the kitchen in the mornings. He remembered how badly he wanted to love her. It always felt like there had been something missing. 

He walked over to Clara and she slapped him across the face. “Do you know how many nights Carter falls asleep in my arms, asking where you are and if you’re coming back? You’re insatiable and greedy,” she cried. 

Harry remembered spending nights closing down the bar. He remembered going home with countless other women, trying to find love with them. He tried to find some spark of joy with them, but it never came. He wanted to believe these memories weren’t real, but he knew they were. He wanted to believe he was a better husband and father, but he remembered the truth now. 

He walked back over to Abigael. “You’ve done all this, luring me into my darkness. Dredging up these painful memories. What was the point of all this?” he asked, frustrated.

“The point is to find Macy and end the threat that hunts us all, this assassin. I warned you it would be painful. Look, the dark version of you killed two of my favorite playthings with a flick of his wrist. Now he has Macy and something in your brain is the key to finding her. Dig. Deeper,” she said, tapping him on the forehead.

He moved to another section of Safe Space. He sat in the attic of the manor, sitting next to Macy as she researched Galvin’s cowrie shell.

“Why is it showing me this? I already have these memories,” he said, frustrated. “These aren’t memories that were taken from me.” 

“There must be some deeper meaning you need to get from it. Focus on what you’re feeling,” she said.

Harry focused on Macy. She was telling him all about Galvin’s cowrie shell. He saw the sparkle in her eyes in the light of the attic. How her dress flowed around her. He saw the look on his own face as he gazed at her adoringly. 

This. This was the night he started to fall for her. He could feel the butterflies in his stomach that came with the beginnings of a new crush. This was the night he realized he would do anything for this woman. Not just because he is her Whitelighter, but because she is Macy and he is Harry. His greatest desire in life was nothing more than to make her happy. 

He walked over a few feet and they were in his condo. It was the night of their first encounter after the bar. He saw himself making love to Macy. 

“Ooh, now this is what I’m talking about,” Abigael said, with a smirk on her face.

“Would you kindly turn around or something?” he asked, embarrassed. “This one is not for your eyes.” 

He watched as he and Macy finished making love. He was holding her in his arms and looking into her eyes. He looked at her like she was the most beautiful creature in the world. She stared into his eyes intently, like if she took her eyes away for even a moment, she might die. At that moment, everything else in the world fell away. This was the moment where Harry truly fell in love with her. The moment where he realized there could never be another woman in the world for him. 

He felt the intensity of that moment again. He had never felt so strongly for another person. Not for his wife. Not for any of the other women before her. He was so overcome with emotions that he could hardly breathe. He realized the Darklighter possessed these memories, too. Betrayal coursed through his body. These memories were precious. He didn’t want to share these with anyone other than Macy. 

He heard a scream from across the room and went running towards it. A locked door stood in his way. He began to throw himself against it, trying to break through. 

“Harry, this door is locked for a reason. The thing the Elders feared the most, your connection to your other half, it has to be on the other side,” Abigael said. “It’s a mental firewall. You won’t get through it with brute force. It’s not about fighting, it’s about surrendering. What truth do you need to admit to yourself?”

He paused, running through all the memories he witnessed. He searched for a common theme among them. What did these scenes tell him? What did he need to learn about himself? He closed his eyes and focused his energy. 

“Love,” he whispered to himself. “I’m in love with Macy and it’s deeper than anything I have ever experienced. I have never known a love as strong as the one I have for her. She is my soulmate. My true north. My everything. This isn’t a crush or some fleeting infatuation. She is my reason for being.” 

He braced himself and went to open the door. He removed a wooden slat and peered through. He recognized the room from the Castle Breithe in Scotland. Finally, he could remember the beginning, the moment he was split into two. He turned to Abigael.

“Take me back,” he ordered her. 

She touched his temples and took him back to Safe Space. He rushed back to the Command Center. 

“Where are we going now?” she asked. 

“I’m going to Scotland. I’m tired of all the fucking secrets. You can come or not. I don’t really care at this point.”

He opened a portal and jumped through. She looked around and then jumped through after him, deciding she had nothing else to do with her time. 

They landed inside the castle. He looked around, overcome with the strongest sense of deja vu. 

He began to remember everything. His training with the Elders. Learning how to heal. Learning how to fight demons. Feeling a sense of purpose for the first time in his life. Feeling proud of himself for once. 

He remembered the pain of being split in two. Having the dark parts of him ripped out and shoved into a bottle. His breath caught. He felt a sense of betrayal at the Elders for stripping away so much of his being. 

He turned and saw a shelf filled with bottles. He found the one marked James Westwell, his birth name. He gently ran his fingers over it. “I’m half a man. And someone or something let the other half out. The Darklighter has a master,” he realized.

Before he could stop her, she picked up the bottle that once contained Harry’s darkness. The whole room began to shake. 

“We have to go. Now,” he yelled, reopening the portal to the Command Center.

He went back to the witchboard and looked down at the control panel. “There’s something I’m still missing. I have these memories now, but I don’t know where Macy is,” he muttered angrily.

“If he is your other half, then you share all these emotions and feelings. You just have to put the pieces together,” she encouraged. 

He thought back over all the memories he experienced earlier. There was only one missing puzzle piece. “You have to take me back. Take me back to the mind meld,” he said, grabbing her hand and taking her upstairs.

She took him back into his mind. He ran around frantically, searching for the cloaked figure. They would be the answer to all his questions. He knew it.

He grabbed the cloaked figure and turned them around. He pulled down their hood. For the first time in two days, he laid his eyes on Macy’s face outside of his memories. He was so relieved to see her face that he nearly cried. 

“Harry?” she asked. “Harry? Is that really you?” She surged forward and kissed him. He froze for a second before wrapping his arms around her. He knew this wasn’t really her, but he had longed to feel her against him for two days now. She pulled back and held her face against his. “I was so worried. I kept calling out for you. What took you so long?” 

He froze for a second. He had never had this interaction with her. He remembered every kiss, every touch. They were all catalogued in his memory. This one never happened. Unless...

“She’s talking to him. She’s talking to the Darklighter. This is his memory. Our psychic connection,” he realized. 

“Where are Mel and Maggie?” She had pulled back from him and was looking around nervously. In an instant, her demeanor had changed entirely. 

He thought for a moment and was able to respond. “They went home. You’ve been out for a while,” he said. 

She looked hesitant. “Um, I’m sick. Can you heal me?” She looked up at him, hopefully. “Harry, what’s wrong? You seem different.”

“Oh love, I am different,” he said, moving his face closer to hers until his lips were right next to her ear. “Do you like it?” 

She looked at him, her brow furrowed with worry. “Yes, I like it,” she responded. 

Harry could tell the entire encounter scared her. He wanted to take away her fear. Macy had told him she was scared of the Darklighter, but to physically see that level of terror on her face broke him. 

“Take me back,” he said to Abigael, his voice small with worry. “I’m done here. I’ve got what I need.” 

They went back to the Command Center. “You held up your end of the bargain,” he said, looking at Abigael. “You’re free to go.” 

Abigael looked at him, hesitantly. She almost didn’t want to leave him. He was clearly shaken by everything he had seen, but she also wasn’t going to question her freedom. She picked up the couple things she had lying in the Command Center and quickly left. 

He sat down in front of the witchboard again. The knowledge that Macy was scared of his Darklighter made him even more worried for her. He knew now how the Darklighter felt for her, as it was the same way he felt. He was so lost in thought that he didn't hear Mel and Maggie walk in. 

“Harry? Are you okay?” Maggie asked, touching him on the shoulder. “Did you have any luck with the Book of Elders?”

“Not with the Book of Elders, but Abigael actually helped me out quite a bit,” Harry said.

“Seriously?” Mel said. She looked around for the witch that had become a thorn in her side. “Wait, where is she?” 

“I told her she was free to go. It was her condition for helping me. No one is more surprised than me that it actually worked, but it did,” he said. “I was able to tap into the psychic connection I share with the Darklighter. It seems we share the same feelings, the same emotions, just in different ways. I went back to some of my childhood memories. I saw some of my life before I became Harry Greenwood. I saw how I became a Whitelighter.”

He started to think back on the memories he had seen. The feeling of a lifetime of memories rushing back into his head was overwhelming. He had so many different emotions, feelings to which he was not accustomed. He felt shame over the way he had treated his wife, a woman to whom he had made a sacred oath. He felt rage at the Elders for the barbaric way they had split him into pieces. All of that needed to wait, though. He had to get out of his head. Macy needed all of his attention right now. 

“Any luck with the Absum Veri?” he asked nervously. 

“We got coordinates,” Mel said. “Let me pull them up.”

Mel moved the control panel around until the coordinates for lower Manhattan were pulled up. There were still no red lights lit up. Harry was overcome with disappointment. He so badly wanted there to be a red light. Verification that Macy was still there. That she could still be saved. If she was that scared, then why wouldn’t her location be lit up for him? 

“Harry, what if she’s not in trouble?” Maggie asked. 

He nervously glanced at her. “What do you mean?” he asked. 

She took a deep breath. “In order to get the coordinates, we had to come up with something Macy desires, something she denies herself, and something she dreads,” she explained. “We couldn’t figure it out, so we read her journal. We know about the two of you.” She looked at him, nervously. 

The blood drained from Harry’s face. “What, um, what is it that you know?” He knew Macy kept a journal. With her detail-oriented nature, he could only imagine what was in there. 

“We know you guys had sex the night we went out dancing. And then she was avoiding you. We know you almost kissed recently. There was a little more, but I don’t know that Macy would want us to tell you.” She badly wanted to tell Harry that Macy returned his feelings, but that was not her message to convey. 

He turned away from his charges and put his head down. He could feel his face turning red with shame. He knew Macy wasn’t ready for her sisters to know about their relationship. She definitely wouldn’t want them to know the intimate details of their night together. Neither did Harry, if he was being honest. It had been bad enough that Abigael saw their encounter in his memories. Now Mel, who was like a sister to him, and god, Maggie, who was like a daughter to him, for them to know everything was humiliating. “Yes, well, I guess there are no secrets anymore.” 

Maggie looked at Mel. She wanted to go hug Harry and tell him everything was okay. He had nothing to be ashamed of and they would help him work everything out. Now wasn’t the time, though. They had to stay focused on Macy. 

“What if there’s no red light because the Darklighter wants her there with him?” Maggie asked. 

“That is my greatest fear,” he admitted. “Because it means that for better or worse, he and I are truly the same person. If that is the case, he will stop at nothing to keep Macy there with him. Because it means he is as in love with your sister as I am.” He looked up hesitantly at the sisters. Their eyes got wide when he confessed his love. “And if that is the case, I cannot stress enough how much danger she is in.” 

* * *

Across the country in Manhattan, Macy continued to lie in bed. She tried to wake up, but could not fight the fog of sleep. She felt fingers running through her hair. A soft trace along her jaw. A kiss pressed to the nape of her neck. A familiar voice saying, “Oh love, you feel amazing.” Instead of that voice bringing her comfort, though, Macy was filled with nothing but dread. She needed to wake up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment or kudos if you liked it. I appreciate any and all feedback! 
> 
> I'll be back next Sunday with the next chapter.


	7. Chapter Seven: When Sparks Fly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Macy finally wakes up to find she is with the Darklighter. Harry, Mel and Maggie work on locating their sister. Macy returns home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: Macy is going to experience some significant trauma in this chapter. It definitely falls under the umbrella of sexual assault. As I said earlier, there is no rape in this story. However, what happens to her is not okay and could be triggering based on your own personal experiences. 
> 
> As always, a massive thank you to my wonderful beta katasstropheee. 
> 
> Some dialogue taken from 2x06: When Sparks Fly

Macy slowly opened her eyes. She went to sit up and felt dizzy. She blinked and looked around the room. Something felt off. This looked exactly like her bedroom, but it just didn’t feel quite right. She put her feet on the floor and slowly stood up. The last thing she remembered was being in the warehouse with her sisters and Abby. Then Harry took her home. Her stomach sank as she remembered. It wasn’t Harry. It was the Darklighter.

“Harry,” she whispered. She paused, hoping he would appear in front of her. “Harry! Harry! Where are you, goddamnit?” 

She put her hand out, trying to conjure a fireball. Nothing happened. She tried again. Still nothing. She tried one more time, the fear rising in her body. Nothing came out of her hand. For whatever reason, her powers were blocked. 

She began to cry. For the first time since they had left Hilltowne, she was truly terrified. The Darklighter had her. As long as she played along with what he wanted, she could buy herself some time. Eventually, she could get out of here. She just had to placate him as long as possible. 

She looked in the mirror and wiped the tears out of her eyes. She took a deep breath as she stepped outside the room. The familiar smell of a home-cooked meal wafted up the stairs towards her. It smelled like home. Everything looked like home. But she knew in the pit of her stomach that this was not home.

She walked into the kitchen and saw him. He looked so much like her Harry. He seemed so innocent here. Her skin began to crawl.

“Harry?” she asked. 

“Macy! Oh thank god, you’re awake,” he came over and hugged her. He grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. She fought back the urge to push him away. She just had to keep playing along. “I’ve been so worried for you. How are you feeling?” He brushed his fingers through her hair.

“I’m just a little confused. The last thing I remember is being in the warehouse and then I woke up back in my room. How long was I out?” 

“It’s been two days, love. Your sisters and I have been sitting at your bedside waiting for you to wake up. We’ve been so worried for you,” he said, his voice dripping with fake concern.

“Harry, what happened in the warehouse?” she asked hesitantly. 

“My Darklighter. He nearly got you. Fortunately, I got there at the last moment and got everyone out. It was quite the tussle, but I saved you from him.” He smiled at her, clearly expecting her to fawn over his heroic efforts. 

“My hero,” she said, choking back some vomit. He seemed so pleased with himself. She didn’t know how long she was going to be able to keep up this act. 

“Anything for you, my love.” He smiled at her. He seemed to be trying to replicate Harry’s soft smile. It seemed out-of-place on his face, though. There was no gentleness in his gaze. 

“What is all of this? Where are Mel and Maggie?” She looked around nervously, hoping she might be wrong. Maybe she was just overreacting. She knew she wasn’t, though. Her sisters were nowhere to be found. It was just her and the Darklighter. 

“They stepped out for a while. I thought we could finally have dinner together. Spend some time just the two of us.” He averted his eyes. He was as bad at lying to her as her Harry was. 

The timer went off and the Darklighter stepped away to pull something out of the oven. “I’m so glad you woke up when you did,” he said. “I was just about to open the wine.” 

“Oh wow, a Chateau Montenau?” she said, pretending to be impressed. 

He poured out some wine for both of them as he chuckled. He handed her the glass and looked at her, expecting her to take a sip with him. She reluctantly did so, holding the wine in her mouth. As soon as he turned away for a moment, she spit it back into her glass. She had to stay on her guard. She couldn’t let anything distract her tonight. 

“I know. I’m probably going overboard, but I couldn’t help myself. We’ve waited for so long to be together. I’m just so excited it’s finally happening. Now, why don’t you go get cleaned up a little bit?” He looked hesitant for the first time. “Maybe you could put on that red dress? You know the one I like? You look so beautiful in it. I just want tonight to be special.” 

She saw open lust in his eyes. It took all her control not to reach out and slap him. That dress was not for him. She wanted to cry. “Yeah, I know just the dress. I’ll be right back.” She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, keeping up appearances. 

She got back up to her room and began to whisper for Harry again. Every time he didn’t come, she got more scared. She reached into the closet and pulled out the dress. The one that had once made her feel so powerful. So sexy. She loved the effect the dress had on Harry. The real one. 

“ _ Enough _ ,” she thought to herself. “ _ If you want to get out of here alive, you just have to keep going. _ ” 

She put on the dress as if she were putting on armor. He wasn’t Harry and she wasn’t Macy tonight. She was whoever the Darklighter wanted her to be. If he wanted her to be flirtatious, she would be. If he wanted her to be innocent, she would be. She just had to come up with a plan. 

She walked back downstairs, stopping at the front door to see if she could get out. No luck. He immediately heard the door opening. 

“Everything all right?” the Darklighter yelled from the kitchen. 

“I’m fine. I just wanted to get some air for a moment,” she quickly lied.

“After dinner. Maybe we can take our drinks out on the patio? Dinner’s ready now, though.” 

* * *

Back at the Command Center, Mel and Maggie were continuing to look at the witchboard. They had finally gotten Harry to step out long enough to get something to eat. He only agreed once he realized he was about to pass out from hunger. The sisters sent him to pick up some fast food for everyone so they could talk. 

“Mel, I’m freaking out. Why isn’t Macy showing up on that board?” Maggie said, pacing back and forth. 

“I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s a good sign. That the Darklighter still wants her there. Or if it’s a terrible sign. That she’s...that she could be…”

“Don’t even say that. We can’t go there.” 

“I’m trying really hard not to go there, but the longer she’s gone, I just don’t know what to think,” Mel said, frantically. 

“We just have to count on the Darklighter being in love with Macy. That is so mind boggling for me to even think about, but it’s our only hope right now.” 

“Maggie, what happens when he realizes she’s not in love with him, though?”

“I don’t know. I still don’t fully understand how the whole connection with Harry works. So, are they the same person? Do they share a brain?”

“We share memories, feelings, emotions. We don’t share a brain,” Harry said, walking back in with the food. “I don’t fully understand our connection, either, but from what I can gather, if I feel a strong emotion for someone, then he would feel something of a similar intensity.”

“So, if you’re in love with someone…” Mel started to ask.

“Then he would feel something of a similar intensity, whether that be love, lust, infatuation, whatever you want to call it,” he said, not even wanting to think about it. 

“Harry, I have to ask. How intense are the Darklighter’s feelings going to be for Macy?” Maggie asked, hesitantly. 

“Just ask what you’re trying to ask, Maggie. You want to know the extent of my feelings for your sister,” he said, not wanting to meet her eyes. 

“I’m sorry, Harry. It’s just yesterday you guys were at most good friends. And now we find out you have been having this whole affair behind our backs. It’s just...overwhelming,” she said. 

“It’s not been an affair behind your backs. Look, I am not going to go into the details of my relationship with Macy,” he sighed in irritation. This wasn’t how Mel and Maggie were supposed to find out. He and Macy were supposed to have time to figure everything out first.

“You say it wasn’t behind our backs, but then we find out you guys got together months ago and you never told us about it,” Maggie argued back.

“I imagine you already know more than either your sister or I ever intended you to know. If your sister wants you to know the details, then she can tell them to you. I am not going to betray her trust in that way,” he said definitively. “Both of us are entitled to our privacy.” He glared at Maggie, feeling extremely uncomfortable with the line of questioning. 

“Harry, just tell us. What can we expect from the Darklighter?” Mel asked, softly. “We need to know how to help Macy.” 

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “Fine. Assuming the Darklighter feels the same way I do, Macy consumes his every thought. He thinks about her from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to sleep. And then while he’s asleep, he dreams about her,” he said in a low, even voice. His voice cracked just slightly as he finished his thought. 

Maggie and Mel looked at each other. Maggie started to open her mouth to ask another question, but Mel put her hand on her sister’s arm and softly shook her head. Maggie got the message that this wasn’t the time to get more information from their Whitelighter.

“Is that enough information for the two of you?” he asked. His tone sent the clear message that this would be the only information they were going to get from him tonight. They nodded their understanding. “Now, that level of infatuation is dangerous from a person who also has no moral compass, so let’s stop focusing on how I feel or how he feels and just figure out how to get your sister home. He may not kill Macy, but I don’t want to even fathom the things he could do to her.” 

Maggie watched as Harry paled at that last thought. She had been so focused on Macy being in physical danger, on the possibility of the Darklighter murdering or torturing her. She hadn’t stopped to consider the vast other realm of possibilities. Her heart broke for him. She went to sit next to him, wanting to offer him some sort of comfort. “Why don’t we just portal to New York?” she asked.

“And do what? Go door to door looking for Macy? That would take days?” Mel said. 

“My only other idea is to see if I can get something more from Jordan.”

“Of course. All roads lead to you touching Jordan,” she said, rolling her eyes. 

“It’s not like that. I can’t help it that the only time I’ve been able to get any flashes of anything is when I’m touching him,” Maggie said, frustrated. 

“Mel, your sister is right. We have coordinates for where Macy is, but that doesn’t narrow it down any further. If Maggie can get something from Jordan, he’s our only hope right now,” Harry said. 

Mel sighed. “Fine, so what’s the plan?”

Maggie smiled as she realized there was actually hope for them tonight after all. 

* * *

Macy walked into the dining room. While she was upstairs, the Darklighter had changed into a black suit. He watched her walk into the room and almost leered at her. She had seen that look before, or something similar to it, at least. When Harry looked at her like that, she felt like a goddess. It wasn’t the same on the Darklighter’s face. From him, she felt like a piece of meat about to be devoured. 

“Everything smells delicious. What are we having?” she asked.

“A fillet and some gratin Dauphinois,” he said, lighting the candles on the table and pulling out her chair. “I just have to get the gratin. I’ll be right back.” His hands ran down Macy’s shoulders as he helped her into her chair.

“I’ll be waiting,” she responded in a voice she didn’t recognize.

The Darklighter came back and began to serve the meal. Throughout dinner, she kept him talking and drinking wine. She quickly figured out that he loved to talk about himself. She kept asking stories about his previous charges. Any story where he could paint himself as the hero, especially if he had to come to the aid of a damsel in distress. She spent as much time as she could fawning over him. He hardly noticed she wasn’t eating. 

The Darklighter was just finishing up a story of rescuing a previous charge from the clutches of a demon when he stopped in his tracks. 

“Oh, I do love this song,” he said, his eyes staring off in the distance. “Macy, would you do me the honor of dancing with me?” 

“I’d love to,” she said, trying to imitate her most alluring voice. 

They moved into the living room. He pulled her close. She rested her head against his shoulder and sighed. 

“What is it, love?” he whispered in her ear.

“I’m just so happy. We’re finally alone together. It’s taken us so long to get to this point.”

“It really has. And now that I have you, I’m never letting you go,” he said, pulling her even closer.

She had longed to hear those words from Harry. But hearing these words now, in this voice, it made her blood run cold. She had to start her plan to get out. The song ended and she pulled back for a moment.

“Would you excuse me for just a moment? I think I had a bit too much wine with dinner. I just need to run to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

“Hurry back, love.” He kissed her again. She responded just enough to keep him from getting suspicious. As she pulled away, she fought the urge to wretch. 

* * *

Harry and the younger Vera sisters arrived at the SafeSpace rando karaoke night. A young woman stood on stage singing terribly offkey to “I Will Survive.”

“What the hell is this?” Harry asked, confused. “How is karaoke going to help us find Macy?”

Maggie quickly scanned the room, looking for the man she needed. He stood in the corner, laughing at something his girlfriend was saying. She pointed in his direction. “There,” she said. “Jordan’s over there. I knew he’d be here. He loves karaoke.” She sighed. “And Lola’s here. She’s draped all over him like a blanket.”

Harry looked where Maggie was pointing. He saw the tall man with the young woman practically attached at his hip. “Shit,” he sighed. “You’re not getting within two feet of that fellow.”

“I’ll just have to find a way,” she sighed. “Macy needs us.” 

Swan got back up on stage as the previous singer mercifully reached the end of her song. “Excellent job on that beautiful song. Now, who is up next?” she said, looking down at her clipboard for the sign-up sheets. “Oh, yes, this guy has got some pipes. It’s Jordan Chase, our resident boxing coach.” 

Maggie realized this was her opportunity. “Here goes nothing,” she muttered under her breath. “How about we make it a duet?” she yelled out, smiling at Swan.

Swan began to giggle. “I love it. So rando, Maggie. Let’s do it.” 

Jordan looked at Maggie awkwardly as they both stood up on stage, waiting to find out what song they would be singing together. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” started up. He took the first verse. His voice rang out clear and loud. She smiled at him, impressed with the richness of his voice. She almost forgot she had to sing with him, just wanting to sit back and let him serenade her for a while. 

She leaned against his shoulder, taking the microphone to begin her part of the verse. She held her hand next to his on the microphone. His girlfriend sat next to the stage, glowering at the two of them. He moved back, trying to get a bit of distance from Maggie. 

She reached out and grabbed his hand, beginning to see a fuzzy vision of something. He yanked his hand away and gave her a strange look as he went on to the next verse. And so it continued. She would grab his hand, begin to see something, and then he would move away.

Harry stood back and watched the two singing. He was one step away from jumping on stage himself to hold their hands together. They just needed it long enough for her to get a vision. He paced back and forth in the back of the room. As the song ended, he realized by the look on Maggie’s face she hadn’t been able to get anything. He felt even more desperate. 

Maggie walked back to her sister and Harry, feeling dejected. “All I got was a blurry awning to a building. Every time it started to get clearer, he would pull his hand away.” 

“Fuck,” he said, hitting his hand against the wall. “We need to get the two of you alone together, so you have another chance to keep touching him.” 

“Harry, how can she do that without getting arrested?” Mel asked. “I get that we’re all upset, but we have to be reasonable.” 

“She has been gone for three days, Mel,” he said between gritted teeth. His eyes were wild with fear. “72 hours. We have no idea what he is doing to her. So, I’m sorry if I’m starting to get desperate.”

“Guys, I think I might have an idea,” Maggie said, looking over at the elevator. “Do you have anything that could fry the electrical panel?”

Mel smiled, realizing she had exactly what they needed.

* * *

Macy paced the bedroom. She ran her hands up and down her arms, trying to remove the feeling of the Darklighter’s hands on her. She noticed her cell phone on the dresser. It couldn’t really be that easy, could it? No, there was a reason he had left the phone where she could reach it. She tried to open the window, but it was locked. She grabbed a candlestick off the dresser and wrapped a blanket around it to muffle the sound as she broke the glass. She reached through and her hand encountered a gel-like substance.

“Oh, and just when things were starting to get interesting?” the Darklighter said from the doorway. “How long have you known?”

“Since the warehouse,” Macy said, backing up towards the wall. “I can always tell the difference between the two of you.” 

“Macy, why won’t you just let me be with you?” He moved closer and pushed her hair behind her ears. “I know you want me.”

She reached up and shoved his hand away. “Except I don’t. There’s nothing about you that I want.”

“But I’m a piece of him. And I know you want him. I know you’ve already had him.” 

She gasped and stepped backwards. 

“We’re two sides of the same coin,” the Darklighter explained, backing her into a corner. “I remember everything he remembers. I remember how good you feel. How much you wanted him. Maybe I just wanted to experience that for myself. After all, he always gets everything. Why can’t I have good things, too?” he whispered the last question directly into Macy’s ear, letting his lips linger against the shell of her ear. 

“So is that your plan? Keep me here prisoner because you’re jealous of Harry?” her voice shook as she asked her question. 

“Oh no, you’re no prisoner. I just wanted to have a little bit of fun before we got to the unpleasant side of things,” he chuckled darkly. 

“I’d rather skip ahead to the unpleasantness, if you don’t mind.” 

“Fine, have it your way then. You can go ahead and call your sisters. Call Harry, even. They’re more than welcome to come and join us. I have plenty of dinner to go around,” he said, backing up. 

“Lure my sisters directly into your trap? I’m not that stupid. Which I’m certain you already know, so you can go on to your next plan.”

The Darklighter smirked and snapped his fingers. The room changed appearances to be a sleek apartment. She looked outside and saw the New York City skyline.

“Gorgeous, isn’t it? Just like you,” he said, almost fondly. 

“If you were going to uncloak us all along, why did you bother to do any of this?” she asked, genuinely confused. 

“I was tired of just sneaking into your dreams. I wanted more. I wanted everything that he’s had. I wanted you. But since you don’t want that, I’ll just have to settle for taking you away from him.” He conjured a piece of rope and tied it around her hands. “And just think, we could have had so much more fun tonight. Oh, the things I could do to you.” He stayed close to Macy, taking advantage of the fact she couldn’t push him away. He ran his lips along her exposed neck. “And I know you’d like them. Because I already know what you like,” he whispered into her ear. 

* * *

Maggie was able to get Jordan into the elevator alone. Mel took her disruptor potion and accidentally knocked out the power to the whole building, rather than just the elevator. Maybe this could buy them even more time, though. 

While they waited to hear from Maggie, Mel went to sit next to Harry. “Harry, it’s going to be okay,” she said, putting her hand on his arm.

“We can’t possibly know that,” he scoffed.

“But we have to believe that. The minute we stop believing it, we’re doomed.” She paused, clearly wanting to ask a question.

“Go ahead. We may be sitting here a while. I can tell you have something more to say,” he said, defeated. 

“How long?” 

“How long what?” 

“How long have you been in love with Macy?” she asked softly. 

He looked at her with pain in his eyes and sighed. “I don’t know. I’ve always felt close to her, in a different way. I don’t know when those feelings turned from friendship to attraction. If I had to guess, it may have started around the time I went to Galvin’s party with her.” 

“That long? Seriously?” she said, surprised. 

“I don’t know if I realized it then, though. The first time I can remember clearly thinking that I was in love with her was while she had the powers of the Source. I was so scared for her. I realized that if I lost her, I wouldn’t just be losing a friend. Or a charge. I’d be losing the woman I loved.” 

“And Macy? When did it start for her?” she asked, curiously. She had never detected even the slightest feelings from Macy. It hurt her a little to think she didn’t know her sister as well as she thought she did.

“I don’t know,” he said, frustrated. “We never really had a chance to talk about it. You know your sister. She keeps everything so close to her chest. She’s never fully let me in.” He looked at Mel with pleading eyes. “We weren’t purposefully trying to hide this from you and Maggie. We just were trying to figure out what we were to each other first.”

“It’s okay, Harry,” Mel said, trying to reassure him. “You were right. Both of you are entitled to your privacy.” 

He leaned forward and looked at the floor. “We were just finally going to really try this. After months of her pushing me away, we were going to give it a go. I was going to take her out on a real date this weekend. While you all were at the warehouse, I was looking up restaurants nearby and trying to find something fun and romantic we could do together. That’s what I was doing while the Darklighter was kidnapping Macy. Planning a fucking date.” He looked at Mel, tears stinging the corners of his eyes. 

“When did you guys decide you were going to be together?” 

“The night before she was taken.”

“Oh, Harry,” she realized just how crushing this must be for Harry. He had gotten so close to having everything he wanted. 

“And now, if anything happens to her, it will be all my fault,” he said softly. “My feelings for her are the reason she is in danger. I will never forgive myself if any harm comes to her.”

“Harry, you can’t blame yourself for this,” Mel said, angrily. “You can’t help the way you feel for Macy. Just because the Darklighter is a piece of you, it doesn’t mean you’re responsible for him. You have no control over his actions. You had no control over his creation. The Elders are the ones that brought about the Darklighter. Not you.” 

“You can keep saying that, but I don’t know if I’ll ever fully believe you,” he said, his voice thick with tears. He quickly swiped at his eyes. “Any update from your sister?”

She could tell he needed to stop talking about everything. Fortunately, Maggie came through just then with a text. 

“Omigod, she got an address. Or a possibility of an address. She saw an awning for an apartment building. It’s a green awning with The Grantham written on it and the numbers 4110.”

He sighed with relief. This was the closest he had felt to finding Macy yet. He pulled out his phone and looked up “Grantham” “4110” “New York City.” Google led him to a luxury apartment building located at 4110 E Broadway. 

“I think we’ve got her,” he said, smiling for the first time in days. He turned to Mel. “Let’s go.”

* * *

The Darklighter led Macy to the living room and sat her on the couch, her hands still tied together. He began to prepare a briefcase filled with weapons. 

“So much firepower in one place. Yet you have none. Someone’s pulling your strings. Giving you orders. You could have turned me over to your boss right away,” Macy said. 

“I thought we could deliver the other ones together,” the Darklighter said. 

“Deliver them. To who?”

The Darklighter glared at her.

“Oh, come on,” she said, trying to stay slightly flirtatious, hoping that could buy her some more time. “You said you wanted us to get to know one another. Where did you come from? Tell me everything about you. I want to know it.” 

“I was a prisoner,” he sneered. “Your Whitelighter, they ripped me from his body. From my body. I was the leftovers tossed in the garbage bin. For what felt like an eternity.”

“That sounds horrible,” she said, genuinely feeling sorry for what he had experienced.

“It’s criminal is what it is. But someone came along and released me, gave me my body back and I felt something. Hot, cold. Pain, pleasure. And desire. I’ll never give that up again.”

She looked at him intently. He knew now that she knew the truth about him. She didn’t have to keep up this charade any longer. It was time to start bargaining. “What would it take to keep my sisters safe?” 

The Darklighter laughed. “I think that ship has sailed now, don’t you?” 

“What if I could get you someone more powerful? What if I could get you, say, Abigael Caine?” 

“What about you?” 

“What about me?” 

“I want you, too,” he said, sitting down next to her. He placed his hand on her thigh. “One night with you. I want to have what he had. You get me Abigael Caine and let me have you. Your sisters will remain safe and I’ll let you go tomorrow.” 

She sat there for a moment, running through all the possibilities. She had no available powers. Her sisters and Harry had no idea where she was. Assuming he kept to his word, she could do this for one night. She could end everything. She could save them all. 

“Fine. I’ll get Abigael for you. And you can have me tonight as long as you let me go tomorrow,” Macy said. She started to detach herself emotionally. She just had to go through the motions. Once morning hit, she would be free. 

“No bluffing? No other plans?” he asked, skeptically.

“Dead serious. One night together. You and me.” She leaned in and kissed him, opening her mouth to him. He pulled back. 

“Okay, you have a deal.” The Darklighter leered at her as he reached down to untie her bindings.

“Why don’t you go get us some drinks?” she said, trying to put on her most seductive voice. “I’ll be waiting right here for you.” 

She stared straight ahead, waiting for him to return. She looked at the clock and saw it was almost 10:00 p.m. Just a few more hours to go. She could do this. It didn’t have to mean anything. This was just what she had to do for her sisters. For Harry. For herself. 

She looked up and saw the Darklighter standing there with Mel next to him. 

“My sister wasn’t part of the deal,” she said, standing up and rushing towards him. She grabbed him by the throat and pushed him against the wall. She began to squeeze his throat.

“Macy! Macy!” Mel said, trying to pull her back. “It’s the real Harry!”

She realized he was trying to choke out a word. “Havana! Macy, Havana!” 

Macy let go. “Omigod, it’s really you.” She could almost cry with happiness. She was so relieved.

He went to pull her into a hug and felt her freeze. “We have to get out of here.”

She slowly nodded. She looked up and saw the Darklighter coming back with two wine glasses. He rushed towards them. Harry grabbed the sisters and orbed them back home.

They landed in the living room of the manor. Macy could hear Harry and her sisters talking. Their voices seemed to be muffled. Time had slowed to a crawl. She backed up slowly. 

She felt a hand on her arm. It was him again. All she could feel was his hands on her. She had to get his hands off of her. She reached out and slapped Harry across the face, desperate for him to stop touching her.

“Macy? What the hell?” Maggie yelled, checking to see if Harry was okay.

She immediately realized what she had done. “Omigod, Harry. I’m so sorry. Omigod, are you okay? I don’t know what happened. I didn’t mean to do that.” She began to cry. “I’m so sorry.”

Harry looked up at her, his brow furrowed with worry. “It’s fine. I’m fine. I know you didn’t mean to do that.” For the first time, he really looked at her. The normal sparkle in her eyes was dulled. Her arms were drawn around herself. Her shoulders pulled in, as if she were trying to make herself as compact as possible. He had never seen her look so small, so broken. “It’s going to be okay. You stay here with your sisters. I need to go back and finish things with the Darklighter.”

“Harry, no,” Mel said. “You can’t keep orbing back and forth. You’ve barely gotten that ability back. Let us come help you.” 

“This is my fight to finish. Stay here with Macy.” He lowered his voice so only Mel could hear him. “Please, I need you to keep her safe.” 

He looked back at Macy one more time, wanting to pull her into his arms. He needed to feel her breathing. Feel her warmth. Just feel that she was alive. There would be time for that later. 

After he orbed out of the room, Mel and Maggie turned to their sister.

“Mace, are you okay?” Maggie asked carefully, not certain how to approach her. 

“Can we get you something to eat? Do you want some tea?” Mel asked. 

Macy shook her head. “I just...I just...I just need to get rid of him. I can still feel his hands.” She began to sob hysterically. Maggie and Mel both moved towards their sister. “No, please. Please don’t touch me. I can’t handle anyone else touching me. Just, please.” 

The younger sisters backed up. “Okay, whatever you need, Mace,” Mel said. “How about I go run a hot bath for you? Would that be okay?”

Macy nodded. 

“I’ll go pick out some really comfy pajamas for you,” Maggie said, trying to find a task for herself. “Just meet us upstairs whenever you’re ready.”

She stood still, watching as her sisters walked upstairs. She waited for them to get safely out of sight and ran to the kitchen. Grabbing a butcher knife, she gently slid it into her dress, taking care not to cut her skin. She walked upstairs and met her sisters in the bedroom. 

“Do you want us to stay with you?” Maggie asked, not sure what to do.

“No, I just need to be alone for a while,” Macy said, her voice small. “Just go downstairs and wait for Harry.” 

“Okay, just yell for us if you need anything,” Mel said. She started to reach out to touch Macy on the arm, but pulled her hand back as she saw Macy freeze at the sight of her hand coming closer. 

As her sisters walked out of the room, Macy ripped off her dress, not able to stand the feeling of it on her body for one second longer. She took the knife and began to shred the dress to pieces. With every stab into the fabric, she pictured the Darklighter’s face. The touch of his hands on her body. The feel of his lips against her neck. She didn’t stop until the dress was nothing more than a pile of scraps. She slid the knife under her mattress and tossed the dress remnants into the wastebasket by her door. 

She went into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. Sitting in the bath, she scrubbed at her skin until it was raw. The water began to run cold. She drained the tub, refilled it with scalding water, and continued to scrub. She couldn’t stop. She could still feel his touch. 

Mel and Maggie sat downstairs in the living room. They heard the bathtub drain and then the water started running again.

“Maggie, what did he do to her?” Mel asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t know if I even want to know. I’ve never seen her look so terrified. I’ve never seen anyone look that terrified,” Maggie said, shaking. “What do we do?”

Mel looked at her younger sister, lost for words. She didn’t even know where to start with ideas for how to help their oldest sister. Mel moved over to sit next to her and wrapped her arms around Maggie. She couldn’t hold Macy right now, but she needed to hold someone. The two sat there and cried. 

Harry orbed back into the room and saw the younger sisters. His eyes immediately started searching for Macy.

“Where is she?” he asked. He had a few cuts and bruises on his face. “Where did she go?” He started to pace the room looking for the eldest sister.

“Harry, Harry, slow down,” Mel said, reaching out for him. “She’s upstairs taking a bath. She asked for some space. Come on, let me get you a drink.”

Mel led Harry into the dining room and poured him a glass of scotch. The younger sisters sat at the table with him. 

“Is he gone?” Maggie asked. Harry looked up at her. She had never looked so young to him before, so scared. 

“I think so,” he said, downing half the glass in one drink. “How is Macy? Has she said anything yet?”

“Not really. She mainly just said she couldn’t handle anyone else touching her,” Mel said. She knew even the implication the Darklighter had touched Macy would destroy Harry. 

He looked down at the table. His mind ran wild with ideas of what could have happened to Macy. Every possibility was worse than the last. Every possibility made him sick to his stomach. 

“I need to see her,” he said, standing up. “I just..I just need to see that she’s alright.”

“Harry, I don’t know if that’s a good idea tonight,” Maggie said, worried the sight of his face would frighten Macy. 

“Just let me try,” he pleaded. “Please.”

“Okay,” Maggie said. “I think she’s still in the bathtub.”

He nodded and walked upstairs. He knocked softly on Macy’s door and opened it. He stepped inside, leaning over to the bathroom door.

“Macy,” he said softly. “I just wanted to see how you’re doing.” 

She sat in the tub and froze at the sound of Harry’s voice. She knew it wasn’t the Darklighter. She could hear the warmth in this voice. The concern. The love. It still sounded so similar, though. 

“I’m fine,” she said back, her voice so small she wasn’t sure if Harry could even hear her through the closed door.

“Do you need anything?” he asked.

“No, I’m fine. I just want to be alone right now.” 

“Are you sure, love?” he asked, more for himself than anything. He just wanted to keep Macy in his sight. 

“I’m sure. Please. Just leave me alone.” 

“Okay, just call for me if you need anything.” He turned to leave and caught the sight of her dress in the wastebasket. He picked it up, seeing that it had been torn to pieces. He thought of the memories he used to associate with that dress. Macy’s laughter as they drank tequila shots together. The feeling of her body pressed against his on the dance floor. Slowly taking the dress off her body. He began to cry at the thought of how those precious memories would be forever tainted now. He closed the door behind him.

After three baths, Macy finally felt like she had the feeling of the Darklighter’s hands off of her. She moved back into her bedroom, locked her door, and secured a chair underneath the knob. She pulled her blankets off her bed and wrapped them around herself. Slowly, she pulled the knife out from under the mattress and sat on the floor.

* * *

Mel and Maggie hadn’t heard anything from Harry or Macy, so they went upstairs to check on the two. They found Harry sitting in the hallway opposite Macy’s door. He was still dressed in the same clothes he had been to fight the Darklighter. Tears were streaming down his face as he tried to choke back his sobs.

The sisters sat on the floor on either side of him. “Harry,” Maggie whispered. “What’s wrong?” 

He tried to shush the younger sisters. He didn’t want Macy to know he was out there, knowing she would tell him to leave. He couldn’t leave her, though. He had to stay there. He had to know that she was safe.

“I think I’ve lost her,” he quietly sobbed. “And it’s all my fault.”

The sisters put their arms around him. He turned and cried into Mel’s shoulder, trying and failing to muffle the sound of his sobs. They stayed in the hallway with him all night, all three crying for the trauma their sister had experienced. 

Macy sat on her floor all night, listening to the sounds of her sisters and lover on the other side of the doorway. She silently cried her own tears. She stayed awake the entire night, staring at the door and never dropping her knife. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am extremely nervous about posting this chapter. So, please, consider leaving a comment here with your thoughts. All the feedback so far has been very much appreciated. 
> 
> We're looking at some heavy angst for a while here and I hope you'll stick with me through it.


	8. Chapter Eight: Past Is Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Macy begins to heal from the trauma of her kidnapping. Harry and Macy learn more about Jordan's background and talk about their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This marks the point in the story where my chapter lengths kind of explode. This one is about 27 pages long and it's only the 4th or 5th longest chapter in the story, so I hope y'all are okay with my wordiness. 
> 
> As always, a massive thank you to my wonderful beta katasstropheee. After you read this chapter, you should go check out her story "Love In All Its Simplicity," if you haven't already. It's adorable and fluffy. It will be the perfect antidote to the angstiness of this chapter.
> 
> Some dialogue taken from 2x07: Past Is Present.

The sunlight streamed through Macy’s window. She had yet to move from her spot next to her bed. She sat there through the night, staring at the door. The chair stayed propped underneath the doorknob to ensure no one could get in. 

Macy knew she needed to get up. She needed to step back outside her bedroom. This was her real house. She was safe here. But there was still a piece of her that didn’t trust that idea. What if this was all an elaborate simulation the Darklighter had set up? No, she needed to stay exactly where she was. 

Outside the bedroom, Harry, Maggie and Mel sat in the hallway. At some point during the night, all of them had drifted off to sleep. Harry continuously jolted awake through the night as he thought of how Macy looked when they returned home. The terror in her eyes. The slap of her hand against his face. 

“Harry,” Maggie whispered as she sat up. “Has she come out of there yet?” 

“No, I don’t think so,” he whispered. “We would have heard her.”

“What do we do?” the youngest Vera asked.

“We wait,” he said. “She’ll come out when she’s ready.” 

“I’m supposed to work the front desk this morning. I can see if someone can cover for me, though.” 

“No, Maggie, you need to work. We’ll be okay here.”

“You’ll call me if you need anything? Anything at all?” Maggie asked him, worried about leaving them for the day. She looked over at the closed door, scared for her sister on the other side. 

“I promise.” 

Harry reached over to Mel and shook her awake gently. “I don’t think Macy would want us all sitting outside her room like this,” he whispered. 

“You’re right,” Mel said, sitting up and yawning. “I’m going to go to the Command Center for a while. See if I can make some progress with the Book of Elders. Keep an eye on the witchboard.” 

He nodded, slightly relieved the two sisters were going to give him and Macy some space. He stood up and shook out his limbs, the pain of sitting on the floor all night after a grueling battle finally catching up with him. 

He tried to make himself busy, wanting to stay near Macy’s door in case she appeared. As Mel and Maggie left the house for SafeSpace, Harry grabbed his belongings and went to take a shower. He let the water wash away the stress of the past few days. 

He walked downstairs and started to make Macy’s favorite breakfast. With every sound the house made, he looked up, hoping it was her walking through the doorway. He wanted to give her a chance to get plenty of rest, but he couldn’t take the silence any longer. He put the food on a tray and walked back upstairs. 

He softly knocked on her bedroom door. “Macy? I brought you some breakfast. Can I come in?”

The sound of the knock startled Macy. She tensed up and grabbed a tighter hold of the butcher knife she had been holding all night. A part of her wanted to relax at the sound of Harry’s voice. She knew it was really him. The Darklighter never had that level of concern in his voice. 

“I’m not really hungry yet,” she said, not wanting to move from her cocoon of blankets. Honestly, she was starving. She hadn’t eaten since before the Darklighter had taken her. She could smell Harry’s scones and tea on the other side of the door. Of course he made her favorite breakfast. She would have expected nothing less from him. “Can you just leave it by the door?” 

His shoulders sank. He wanted to lay his eyes on her, see with his own eyes that she was safe. The sound of her voice wasn’t enough, but he understood. “Of course. Is there anything I can get you? Anything at all that you need?” 

“No, I’m fine,” she said, her voice still thin and small. “Thank you, though.” 

He sat the tray down on the floor. As he stood back up, he placed his hand on the door, wishing he was touching Macy instead. He walked downstairs and sat in the living room. 

Shortly after he sat down, he heard the soft click of a door opening. He heard the plates and teacup rattle just a little bit, as if they were being picked up by someone. It hurt to think she had lied to him, that she just didn’t want to see him. He had to keep reminding himself this wasn’t about him. She would come back to him when she was ready. Until then, at least she was eating something. 

He sat in the living room all day, jumping at every sound he heard above. Since she had taken the food tray earlier, he had not heard a peep from her room. He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to ask her questions. He wanted to know what had happened to her. He wanted to just sit with her and hold her. The longer he went without answers, the more he worried about the horrors she had experienced. 

Back upstairs, Macy inhaled every bit of food on the tray Harry brought her. She didn’t realize how hungry she was until she took the first bite. Part of her wanted to ask him to bring her more food when she was done, but she was scared to call him back to her. It wasn’t that she was scared of him. She knew Harry would never hurt her. She was scared of what he wanted to know. She knew they all wanted answers. They wanted to know what had happened with the Darklighter. Every time she thought about telling them, though, she froze. No, it was safer for her to just stay in her room. 

The feeling of a full stomach made her sleepy. She went over to her door and put her ear against it. She could just barely make out the sound of someone downstairs. She assumed it was Harry. She knew he wouldn’t leave her yet. She wasn’t ready for him to leave. She finally moved from the floor back onto her bed. She moved the butcher knife under her pillow, pulled the blankets tight around her, and let herself sleep, knowing she was safe with him downstairs. 

Harry was still sitting in the living room, staring at a book when Mel and Maggie arrived home from SafeSpace. He stared at the same page the entire day, the ability to comprehend anything completely overtaken by his worry for Macy. 

“Hey, any news?” Maggie asked hopefully, sitting next to the Whitelighter on the couch. “Has she said anything?”

“No, she hasn’t been out of her room yet. I took some breakfast to her. She said she wasn’t hungry, but after I walked away, she took the food.” 

“At least she finally ate something,” Mel said, desperately trying to see the bright side of things. 

“Yeah, I just wish she would come out of there. It almost feels like she is further away from us now,” he said, running his hands down his face in frustration.

Maggie looked at him. He had a couple bruises healing on his face from the fight with the Darklighter. His brow seemed permanently furrowed with worry. The bags under his eyes were getting heavier. The stubble on his face was almost to the point of a light beard. She had never seen him look so disheveled, so exhausted. He looked better when he got out of Tartarus. 

“Harry? You need to get some rest. Mel and I will take care of dinner, but you need to sleep after that. Macy’s home. She’s safe now. We’re all safe now because the Darklighter is gone. You made sure of that.” She reached out and squeezed his arm, reassuringly. 

“I don’t know if I can,” he reluctantly admitted. “I know you’re all safe, but Macy’s clearly not okay. I can’t just go to the attic and sleep peacefully, knowing she’s still struggling so much. I was probably going to sit in the hallway again tonight, just to be near her in case she needed anything.” 

“Do you want to switch rooms with me? Just for a couple days?” Mel asked. “My room is closest to Macy’s. You could keep the door open and you’d be able to hear her if anything happens. But Maggie’s right, Harry. You’re exhausted. You can’t keep sitting on the hallway floor all night.” 

“If you’re really okay with that, Mel, I would appreciate that very much,” he said, his eyes tearing up. He was overcome with how much the sisters seemed to care for his well-being. 

Mel went upstairs to change her bed sheets for Harry and clean up the room a little bit. Maggie went into the kitchen to work on dinner. Harry sat on the couch, looking upstairs and wishing his love would speak to him. 

Later that evening, Maggie brought a tray of dinner up to Macy’s room. She knocked on the door, hoping her older sister would come out, but knowing she probably wasn’t ready to do so yet. “Mace? I brought you some dinner. We’re all eating downstairs if you want to join us, though. We’d love to see you, but no pressure.” She heard no response. “I’ll just leave it right outside the door for you.” She paused for a moment. "Macy, we love you. And we're here for you however you need us. We just miss you. I miss you." 

Macy had been sound asleep the entire day. She didn’t hear Maggie bringing food up to her room. She didn’t hear the sounds of Mel and Harry walking by throughout the evening. She just allowed herself to sleep. She woke up and looked outside, noticing it was dark again. She reached over to check the time on her phone and saw a text from Maggie telling her about the food outside the door. Just then, her stomach growled.

From Mel’s room, Harry heard the sound of Macy’s doorknob rattling. He had been able to sleep off and on for the past few hours, but he still woke up at every little sound. He heard her bedroom door open. Jumping out of bed, he ran out into the hallway.

“Macy!” he said, louder than he had intended.

She was leaning down to pick up the food that had been left for her. She jumped back. 

“No, no, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be that loud,” he said, hoping she wouldn’t withdraw again. “I was...I am just relieved to see you.” 

She allowed herself to really look at Harry for the first time in days. He looked as tired as she felt. 

“It’s okay,” she said. A confused look came over her face. “Why are you in Mel’s room?” 

“Oh, um, it’s the room closest to yours," he said sheepishly. "Mel offered to switch with me for a little while, just so I could be closer, in case you needed anything.” 

“Oh.” She smiled slightly. “Didn’t want to sleep on the floor again tonight?”

“You heard me?” he said, nervously scratching his head. “I was hoping I had been quiet enough.”

“I heard all of you. I didn’t sleep last night. It’s okay. I get it. I wasn’t mad you all were out here.”

He paused, not certain what to say next. He wanted to ask so many questions. He just wanted her to keep talking. He had missed the sound of her voice so much. “I’m sure that food is cold by now. Would you like me to heat it up for you? Or I can make you something else? Whatever you want.”

“That would be nice, thank you. And thank you for breakfast earlier. You know how much I love your scones.” She paused awkwardly. 

“Do you want to come to the kitchen with me? Or I can bring it back upstairs to you?” 

She went to step outside of her room. An overwhelming sense of panic took over. She could see the Darklighter standing in the kitchen, making dinner. She could feel him moving closer to her. She tried to form words, but a small, strangled sound came out. Her vision started to blur. She began to shake her head back and forth, trying to get rid of the Darklighter’s face. 

“Macy?” he said, trying to pull her attention back to him. She was getting lost in her thoughts and he could see the beginnings of her panic attack. “Macy? It’s all right, love.”

She stepped backwards into her room. As long as she stayed in here, she was safe. She took a deep breath. “Can you just bring it back up here?”

“Of course. I’ll be back in just a moment.”

He went downstairs and reheated the enchiladas Maggie made earlier. As he waited for the microwave to finish, he leaned against the counter and looked down at the floor. He was completely lost. He had no idea how to help her. He wished more than anything that his healing powers could take away emotional pain. 

He brought the plate back upstairs. Her door was still open, so he took that as a good sign. She was sitting on her bed, watching the door. He stopped in the doorway. “Do you want me to bring it to you? I can sit with you while you eat, if you’d like.” 

Macy thought back to the Darklighter sitting across the table from her, smiling at her, flirting with her. She started to freeze again. “I think I just want to eat alone.” She watched as the hopeful look on Harry’s face evaporated. “I’m sorry. I just...I just...I can’t yet.” 

“You have nothing to apologize for. I’ll set this right here for you.” He set the plate down on the chair near the door. “Do you want me to leave the door open?” 

“No, I just need to keep it shut for now.” She looked back down at the floor. He went to walk away. “Harry?” she said, just as he started to pull the door shut. He paused and looked back at her. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, Macy. I’m right here if you need me.” He stood against the wall and slumped his shoulders. He heard the lock click shut and some fumbling against the door. All he wanted to do was hold her in his arms and take away her pain. 

Dejectedly, he went back to Mel’s room and laid down. He remembered telling Macy to celebrate the victories instead of only focusing on the losses. She had finally eaten two meals. She opened the door to speak to him. And most of all, she was home safe. He focused on those thoughts as he fell back into a restless sleep. 

Macy stayed awake again through the night. She laid in bed and stared at the door. Every time she started to drift off, she felt the Darklighter’s breath on her neck or his hands on her waist. As light started to stream through the window the next morning, she allowed herself to sleep once more.

* * *

Mel woke up early and walked downstairs. The house was quiet. Normally, Harry was at least up by now. She went back up to her room and peeked inside. Harry had left the door open. Although his brow still had that pinched, worried look, he was finally sleeping. She looked over and saw Macy’s door was still shut. She wanted to go in there and hug her older sister. Let her know that everything was going to be okay. She didn’t have to go through this alone. 

Mel heard Maggie’s door open. Her younger sister yawned and walked out into the hallway.

“Hey-” Maggie started to say. Mel immediately put her hand over Maggie’s mouth.

“Shh..” Mel moved her hand.

“Sorry,” Maggie whispered. She peered around the door into Mel’s room. “He’s finally sleeping.” She looked over at Macy’s door. “Well? The food’s gone, so maybe that’s good?”

“Yeah, let’s go downstairs. I don’t want to wake up either of them.”

The sisters went to the kitchen and started to prepare breakfast. They hoped Harry would stay asleep for a while, but they wanted to have food ready for him whenever he did join them. 

“We need to get Harry out of the house,” Maggie said. “All he’s doing is sitting and worrying about Macy. The constant hovering can’t be good for either of them.” 

“Do you think Macy even realizes he’s hovering, though? We have no idea what’s going on in there.” 

“I don’t know. I wish I could still read her mind. I just don’t know how to help her.” 

“Me either," Mel sighed. "Let’s focus on Harry first, though. He’ll be the easier one to convince, I think.” 

An hour or so later, the sisters heard Harry come downstairs to the kitchen. “Good morning, ladies. I apologize. I didn’t mean to sleep that long.” 

“Why are you apologizing, Harry? You clearly needed the sleep,” Maggie told him. “There’s some breakfast casserole in the oven if you’d like some.”

“Thank you, I’d like that very much.” He prepared a plate for himself. “Have you heard any movement from Macy yet?” 

“Nothing yet,” Mel said. “We were thinking. Why don’t you go to the Command Center for a while today? Work on the Book of Elders? Keep an eye on the Witchboard?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I think I’d be more comfortable staying here in case Macy needs something.”

“Harry, we need to give her some space,” Maggie said gently. “The hovering isn’t good for her. And it’s not good for you. Mel and I can stay here. If anything happens, we’ll call for you immediately. But we need to start getting on with our lives.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet,” Harry said softly. 

“The longer we all focus on what happened, the more power we’re giving to the Darklighter,” Mel said. “Just try it for a couple of hours. If it’s too much, you can come home.” 

Harry sighed, realizing his charges were right. “Fine. But the second any of you need me, you call for me.”

“Deal,” the sisters agreed. 

A short while later, Harry left for the Command Center, having changed his mind at least five times before the sisters finally got him out the door. A few minutes after he left, Mel and Maggie went up and knocked on their sister’s bedroom door.

“Macy?” Maggie said softly. “We made some breakfast. Do you want us to bring you something?” 

They heard blankets rustling and the sounds of someone walking across the room. Something hit against the back of the door and the lock clicked open. Macy opened the door just a crack and peered out at her sisters. 

“Hey,” Macy said softly. “I don’t know that I’m hungry right now, but maybe later?”

“Sure, we can put in the refrigerator for you,” Mel said, taking it as a good sign she had even opened the door. “Did you want to do something? Maybe watch some TV or something like that?”

Macy seemed to tense up a little bit. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m ready to come out yet.” 

“We could come in there if you wanted,” Maggie said. “We could watch that one show you like? Hell’s something?”

“Heaven’s Vice?” Macy smiled. “Um, maybe. I don’t know if I could really focus on anything yet.” 

“That’s okay, too,” Mel said, not wanting to pressure her any further. “We could just sit with you.” 

“Where’s Harry?” Macy asked, looking around as if expecting to see him there, too.

“We convinced him to go to the Command Center for a while. We thought he needed to focus on something outside of the house,” Maggie explained. 

“Oh,” Macy said, her face falling slightly.

“It took a lot of convincing to get him to leave, though, trust us. We practically had to force him out of the house,” Mel said, sensing Macy’s disappointment. “He wanted to be here with you. We can call him back now, if you want us to do that.” 

“No, it’s not that. I just...I feel bad. I just don’t know what to say to all of you.” 

“Macy, we don’t know what to say, either,” Maggie said, reaching out to touch Macy’s arm. She felt her sister tense up and pulled her hand back. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay,” Macy said. “I guess I’m still jumpy.” She stepped back and opened the door further. “Do you guys want to come in? I can’t guarantee I’ll be very good company.” 

The younger sisters looked at each other and smiled. This was progress. 

“We’d love that,” Mel said, stepping inside. 

The sisters stood there and looked at each other, not sure what to do next. 

Macy went to close the door. “Sorry, do you guys mind? I just feel safer with it shut. I mean, I could try to leave it open, maybe.”

“Whatever makes you comfortable, Mace,” Mel reassured her. 

Macy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I want to try to leave it open then.”

They all sat down on Macy’s bed. Macy pulled her knees into her chest and wrapped her arms around them. 

“Can I ask you guys something?” Macy said quietly.

“Of course,” Mel said.

“How did you find me?” 

Mel and Maggie looked at each other. They didn’t want to let Macy know about the journal yet. They didn’t know how she would respond to the invasion of privacy. They would eventually tell her, but they didn’t want to have any setbacks just yet. 

“Oh, um, we did a tracking spell that gave us the coordinates for New York,” Mel said.

“Yeah, and my powers are expanding a little bit. You know Jordan, the boxing instructor at SafeSpace? Sometimes when I touch him, I get a vision of the future, so I saw the awning for the apartment building where you were.” 

“And then Harry and I orbed into a few different apartments until we found you.” 

Macy smiled, resting her chin on her knees. “How did you figure out touching Jordan made you see the future?”

Maggie went into the whole story of karaoke and getting trapped in the elevator together. She told Macy about realizing Jordan’s ring seemed to amplify her powers. Macy listened intently, letting herself begin to relax. Her sisters were safe from the Darklighter now. Maybe, one day, she would feel that safety, too. 

* * *

Several hours later, Harry decided he could not stay at the Command Center a moment longer. He had been able to translate one page of the Book of Elders. His mind was racing with worry for Macy, preventing him from being able to focus for very long. He had been away from her for long enough. He needed to get back to her. 

He came home and heard the sound of laughter coming from upstairs. That was a reassuring sign. He walked upstairs and gently knocked on Macy’s open bedroom door. He smiled at the sight of the three sisters sitting together on Macy’s bed. 

“Hi,” he said hesitantly. “Would it be alright if I joined you all?” 

Mel and Maggie looked at their sister. Macy took a deep breath, as if she were bracing for battle. She hesitantly nodded. “I’d like that.” 

He smiled bigger than Mel or Maggie had seen him smile in weeks. “Okay. Where do you want me to sit?” He didn’t think Macy would be okay with him sitting on the bed just yet. She still seemed nervous by his proximity. He was just excited she was allowing him in again. 

Macy pointed to the chair next to the door. “You can bring that closer.” She appreciated him asking her permission before doing anything. 

“Why is that chair all the way over there? Isn’t that for the vanity?” Mel asked without thinking.

Macy froze. “Oh, um, I was putting it under the door knob to make sure no one could come in.” She looked down at the bed, ashamed. “It’s silly, I know.”

Harry’s heart broke for her. “That’s not silly at all. If that’s what made you feel safe, then it makes perfect sense.” He wanted to reach out and touch her leg in an attempt to comfort her. She seemed so embarrassed. He clenched his hand in a fist and pulled it closer to himself, knowing she wasn’t ready for his touch quite yet.

Maggie went to move her legs and leaned back against the pillow. She pulled her hand away and looked down to see a small cut on her hand. “Ow, jesus.” She pulled the butcher knife out from under the pillow. “Macy?”

Macy looked down again and seemed to retreat back into herself. “I brought that up here the first night I came home. I wanted to be ready in case he came back.” 

The younger sisters and Harry all looked at each other. They had never seen Macy so scared before. They couldn’t even imagine the depths of her fear.

“It’s fine. Hypervigilance is a perfectly natural response to what you experienced. It makes sense you'd want to be prepared if he came back,” Mel said, desperately trying to reassure her sister. She didn't want her to push them all away again. It felt like they were finally starting to get somewhere. “Just maybe let’s put it on the nightstand for now?” 

Macy nodded, still tensed up.

“We were just telling Macy about some of the apartments we orbed into when we were looking for her,” Mel said, trying to get the topic back to a more lighthearted subject. She could see Macy starting to get trapped in her own thoughts. 

“Oh gosh,” Harry began to blush. “The things people will do in the comforts of their own homes.” 

From there, Mel and Maggie kept the conversation going with stories about the goings on at SafeSpace and a couple other things from the past couple days, trying to stay as lighthearted as possible. As night began to fall, Macy started to lean against the headboard more, obviously tired. 

“Why don’t we let you get some more rest?” Harry said, moving to stand. “Do you want to have some dinner first? I can make you a sandwich or some pasta.”

Macy yawned. “I think I’m just going to fall back asleep for now, but thank you. For everything. I know you guys want to know more about what happened, but I just can’t talk about it yet.”

“It’s fine, Mace,” Maggie said. “Whenever you’re ready to talk, if you’re ever ready to talk, we’ll be here.” 

“Do you want to put the chair back under the doorknob after we leave?” Harry asked. 

Macy took a moment to consider things. “No, I want to try just leaving the door closed tonight.” 

“Okay, good night,” he said, smiling softly at her as he pulled the door shut behind him.

Harry and the younger sisters went downstairs. Mel went out to pick up a pizza for dinner, all of them deciding they were too exhausted to cook. Harry and Maggie sat together in the living room, each grappling with their feelings over their time spent with Macy. 

He kept reliving the sound of Macy’s voice just now. It had been days since he heard her speak more than a couple words. He knew she still had a long way to go before things would be okay again, but he felt they had taken one huge step forward. He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Maggie sobbing next to him. 

“Maggie?” he asked, turning to her. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just...she’s sleeping with a fucking knife under her pillow because she’s so scared,” she said, trying to hide her tears. She turned her face away from the Whitelighter. 

He reached out and pulled her into his arms, letting her sob into his chest. “I know. All we can do is be there for her. And for each other.”

Mel came home to find the two sitting together on the couch, Maggie still crying as she released all the emotions that had been building up since Macy was taken.

“What’s wrong?” Mel said, rushing over to her sister. “Did something happen? Where’s Macy?”

“She’s still upstairs,” Harry said. “She’s safe.”

“I just started thinking about everything and started crying and then I couldn’t stop,” Maggie admitted. 

“Oh sis,” Mel said, pulling her sister into her shoulder. “It’s okay. We’ve been so focused on how this affected Macy that we haven’t stopped to think about how scared we were for her.”

“I thought we were never going to find her again. That she had just disappeared forever and we would never know what happened to her,” Maggie said, starting to sob heavily again.

“I thought we would find her dead,” Mel said quietly. She hadn’t wanted to speak those words out loud, but it was the only thought that had consumed her while they were looking for Macy. She began to cry, too. 

Harry stayed quiet. He didn’t want to say all the awful scenarios he had been imagining, each one worse than the last. He couldn’t go back into that thought spiral. For now, he would just sit here and support his charges. He pulled the two sisters close and held them while they cried. 

Macy stood frozen in her doorway. She had been unable to sleep, deciding she wanted to try to eat something after all. She heard her family crying to each other below, sharing their fears for what had happened to her. For the first time in days, she didn’t feel alone in her fear. She decided to let her sisters and Harry have this moment together. Tonight, she was going to try and sleep with the door open just a crack. 

As for tomorrow, she was going to step outside of her room for the first time in days. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she could do anything as long as she had her family. 

* * *

The next morning, Macy woke up early, put on her favorite sweater and leggings, and opened her bedroom door. She took a deep breath and stepped outside the room. She listened for the sounds of her family, hoping they weren’t awake just yet. It was going to take her a while to get downstairs and she didn’t want them to see how much of a struggle it would be. It seemed that everyone was still asleep for now. She took a few steps forward and made it to the top of the stairs. She looked around and tried to take in all the details that made this home. The pictures on the walls. The feeling of the carpet against her feet. The little things the Darklighter wasn’t able to know. All the things that made her know she was safe. With every step she took, she fought the urge to run back to her bedroom and slam the door behind her. She had to keep going. For her sisters. For Harry. But mostly, for herself. 

A while later, Harry woke up and exited Mel’s room. He saw Macy’s bedroom door was open. He peered in, but she was nowhere to be found. Panicking, he ran downstairs. Macy was frozen in the doorway to the kitchen. Her breathing was shallow and her eyes were wide with fear.

“Macy,” he sighed, relieved to see her out of her room. 

She turned and pulled her arms tight around herself at the sight of him. 

“It’s okay. It’s me. It’s really me,” he tried to reassure her. 

“I know. It’s just...I still don’t fully believe it,” she said, looking down at the floor, ashamed.

He wanted to gather her in his arms and hold her close to him. It had been days since he had held her. He knew she wasn’t ready for that yet.

“What do you need me to do?” he asked. “Do you want me to stand here with you? Or I can go back upstairs? I can start cooking some breakfast. Just tell me what you need, love.” 

“He, um, he glamoured his apartment to look like our house,” she whispered.

Everything suddenly made sense to him. It wasn’t just that she was seeing the Darklighter when she looked at him. She was seeing him in every part of the house. Every room was a reminder of what she experienced. 

“Were there any rooms you didn’t see while you were there? Anywhere you might feel more comfortable?” 

She paused, trying to think. “I never went outside,” she offered. 

“Why don’t you go out to the patio then?” he suggested. “I’ll fix some breakfast and bring it out to you.” 

She nodded, relieved that he understood. 

He went into the kitchen and started to make an omelet for her. He felt overcome with a wave of anger. The Darklighter had taken this space that was sacred for her and did everything he could to ruin it. To taint it in her memories. He was so focused on his rage that he didn’t hear her walking back into the kitchen behind him. 

“Harry?” she said softly.

“What?” he yelled angrily as he turned around. He saw her start to shrink away and brought himself back to reality. “Macy, I’m so sorry. I just, I started thinking about what happened and I got angry.” He didn’t want to hide the truth of his emotions from her. 

“It’s okay. You don’t have to hide how you’re feeling from me. I know you guys were hurt by everything that happened, too.” She paused a moment. “I just wanted a glass of orange juice.” 

“Of course. Do you want to get it yourself or I can bring it out to you?” 

She looked down. The sight of Harry at the stove had made her think of the Darklighter initially, but being able to talk to him in this room started to chip away at the fear she had. She could see her Harry in the kitchen, cooking for her instead. 

“I want to try and get it myself. Can I stay in here with you?”

“If you’re sure, then of course you can. I’d enjoy that very much,” he said, smiling encouragingly at her. 

She sat down at the counter while he made her breakfast. She focused on the way he moved, the subtle differences from the Darklighter. He looked back at her every few seconds. When he looked at her, she felt warmth, safety, and love. She started to relax a little bit more. 

He handed the plate of food to her and began to fix breakfast for himself. He brought his plate and sat down next to her. They sat in a comfortable quiet next to each other. Macy focused on how his every move was different from that of the Darklighter. The small distinctions that made it clear he was her Harry. The way he kept looking at her out of the corner of his eye to see if she was okay. The shy smile at her proximity. The longer she sat there, the more comfortable she began to feel. 

“Macy! You’re out of your room,” Maggie exclaimed as she walked into the kitchen. She ran over and hugged her sister. Mel stood back at the doorway, smiling at the sight of her sister. 

Macy froze beneath her sister’s touch. Maggie felt her tense and pulled back. “Sorry, I was just excited to see you downstairs. I should have asked first.”

“No, it’s okay,” Macy reassured her. “It’s just going to take me a while to get used to that again, I think.” She looked around at her sisters and Harry. “I don’t know if I’m ready to talk about everything that happened, but I know you guys have questions. If you want to know something, you can ask. I just can’t guarantee I’ll be able to answer you yet.” 

The other three looked around at each other. Maggie was the first to speak. “No, this is your story to tell. Whenever you’re ready to tell us, we’ll be here. But we aren’t going to force you to say anything.” Mel and Harry nodded in agreement. 

“Thank you guys for understanding,” Macy said. “I think I might want to go to the Command Center today. Get a change of scenery and all that. And I was thinking about your connection with Jordan, Maggie. If we could get something with his DNA on it, maybe we could do some sort of analysis to see what magic he contains.”

“He did offer to give me some boxing lessons,” Maggie shrugged. “I might be able to steal some sweat, as gross as that is.”

“That would work perfectly,” she said, feeling more confident in herself. She could do this. If she just focused on a task, it would distract her. 

Harry smiled at the progress Macy seemed to be making. He was excited at the prospect of spending the day working with her in the Command Center, getting back to some sort of normalcy. 

* * *

The family finished breakfast and headed to SafeSpace. Maggie had texted Jordan and he had time for her first boxing lesson that morning. Macy and Harry headed downstairs to the Command Center together. 

“So, how has it been going with the Book?” she asked nervously. 

“Slow, but steady. Now that we have the cypher, it’s moving a little bit faster. We’ve been trying to work on rebuilding some of the Book of Shadows.” Harry pulled out a potion to show her. “Mel helped to recreate this one.” He poured it over a pen and looked back at her as a second pen appeared.

“Is that a cloning serum?” she said, excitedly.

“Going through the potions seems to be quite helpful.”

She nodded. She bit down on her lip and looked up at him. “Is he really gone? The Darklighter?” 

“From everything we can tell, it seems he is," he said gently.

She closed her eyes and sighed in relief. “You must be relieved about that.” 

“I don’t know if relief is the right word for it. Macy, I know we said we wouldn’t ask you questions about what happened. But, I just, I need to know…” 

The door opened and Maggie came inside, interrupting Harry’s question. She held up a small rag. “This feels like a huge violation of his privacy, but I got it.”

“It’s necessary, though,” he said. “This spell could reveal what magic is present in any given person or creature. It could help explain why his presence seems to be what triggers your powers.”

Maggie seemed to hesitate for a moment. “There’s something else I need to tell you. While we were sparring, I tripped. He stuck out his arm for me to catch my balance and I had another vision. Someone or something was punching him and he was on the ground.”

Macy looked over at Harry. “What could that mean?” 

“I don’t know, but I don’t have a good feeling. He has a magic ring that amplifies your powers. Now, you have a vision of him getting in a fight with someone. We need to know whether or not we can trust him,” Harry said, trying to reassure the youngest sister.

“He’s just always been so nice and helpful. I don’t see how he could be a threat,” Maggie said, frustrated.

“Let’s just do the spell and see if we can get some answers. Until we know something more, let’s not jump to conclusions,” Macy said. She grabbed her sister’s hand in order to perform the spell. Smoke began to rise out of the rag, forming the shape of ancient runes, which she hurriedly wrote down. 

“What does it mean?” Maggie asked Harry as he ran the cypher over the runes.

Harry’s brow furrowed as he read the translation. “It says that Jordan is cursed by the dying breath of a witch.” 

“Where would he even encounter a dying witch? This doesn’t make any sense,” Maggie said, pacing back and forth.

“We’ll figure it out. It just means we need to do some more research. It’s going to be okay,” Macy said. She understood her sister was frustrated and confused, but she was secretly excited for the prospect of a research project to distract herself. 

The witchboard lit up with a red light. Harry went over to move the control panel over to the light. 

“The Sacred Grove?” Maggie read. “What are all those random lines around it?”

“Ley lines,” Harry explained. “It signifies an area with immense amounts of magic. There is a hallowed tree there with fruit that provides temporary immunity from magic. If there’s been a disruption there, that could mean serious trouble.”

They opened the portal and stepped through to the forest. Smoke billowed out in front of them. He led them towards the tree, which appeared to have been burned down. He picked up a piece of fruit, which turned to ash in his hands. “Dryads guarded the tree, but the grove was under the protection of Whitelighters. If someone got hold of this fruit, they would be unstoppable.”

He stopped, hearing the ragged breath of someone on the other side of the tree. The sisters followed him. A woman sat against the tree, struggling to breathe. He immediately started trying to heal her. 

“What happened?” Maggie asked the witch. 

“I sensed the dryads were in danger,” the witch explained. “I came to help. When I got here, there were dozens of demons. Carnals and Malignants working together to take what does not belong to them.” 

“What happened to the dryads?” he asked. 

The witch looked to the side. Harry and the sisters stepped over. There were pieces of petrified wood with faces burned into them. He sighed as he realized the dryads were all gone. 

“Who do we know that would bring Carnals and Malignants together in order to steal magical fruit?” Macy asked.

Maggie looked at Harry. “Abigael,” he sighed. “Let’s go.” He put out his arms for the sisters to grab so they could orb.

They landed in Abigael’s bedroom to the sight of her in bed with two women. Harry blushed and cleared his throat.

“Oh, Harold,” Abby said, looking up at him and smirking. “Have you finally come to take me up on my offer? And you didn’t have to bring your own playthings. I don’t know that they’ll be up for the things I have in mind for us.” She stood up, moving closer to Harry and the sisters. “But I suppose I might be surprised. After all, I have seen a bit of how you can move.” 

Macy looked over at him, trying to figure out what Abby meant. He was avoiding her glance.

“Abby, we need to talk,” he said, grabbing her arm to pull her out of the bedroom.

He explained the destruction of the sacred tree and the information about the Carnals and Malignants working together. They all took turns asking Abby what she knew about it. After several minutes of questioning, Abby went over to her drink cart and prepared a cocktail. “For the last time, I didn’t destroy any sacred trees or take any damned fruit. I’m not the lucky bastard you want.”

“And why should we trust you?” Maggie asked.

“Ah, well, Harold trusts me,” she smiled, glancing over at Macy. “We had quite the little adventure together, didn’t we?” 

“I really think we might be better off without you altogether,” Macy said, moving towards Abby. 

“You certainly came back with a little more sass to you,” Abby said, tilting her head to the side. “Learned some tricks from the Darklighter, did you?” 

“Enough,” Harry said, glaring at Abby. He moved to stand in front of Macy, blocking her view of Abby. “I know you don’t like it, but we need her for information,” he said, softly. 

“I always knew you liked me, Harold. And as much as I wish I had one of those apples, I’m not the lucky bastard you need. But I know who is.” 

“And? Get on with it,” Maggie said. 

“You’ll never believe me,” Abby said, smiling at Maggie with the knowledge her secret would hurt the youngest sister.

“Try me,” Maggie said, crossing her arms and meeting Abby’s glare.

“Have it your way. The demon overlord has the apples.” She waved her hand and said “imiatre absconditum.” A screen appeared with Parker’s face on it as he greeted a crowd of adoring demons.

“No,” Maggie said, her face falling. “That makes no sense. Parker hated his demon side. It was the entire reason he left Hilltowne and me. You’re wrong.”

“I wish. I put all that work into setting myself up as the Overlord and my idiot half-brother swooped in to take it all away,” Abby glared. 

Harry pulled the sisters to the side. “I know we don’t trust her, but if she were behind all of this, do you really think we would have come here to find her in bed with her companions? It just doesn’t make sense.”

Maggie walked back over to the half-demon. “Take me to him, now. If he’s the Overlord, I want to hear it from him.” 

“Maggie, what if you’re wrong? What if she’s setting you up?” Macy asked.

Maggie looked around her sister to Abby. “Meet us at the Command Center in 30 minutes. Don’t be late.” 

Harry and Macy looked at each other. He shook his head and orbed the sisters back to the Command Center.

“Maggie, you cannot go into the Demon Overlord’s lair, even if it's Parker,” Macy said. “That’s insane.”

“Your sister is right. Your powers are limited right now. You’ll be surrounded by demons with immense power,” Harry tried to explain. “Please, at least let me go with you.”

“No, Parker is going to feel ambushed. If he really wants to unite demons against witches, then I may be the only one who can get through to him. You two say it’s too risky for me to go. I say it’s too risky for me for me not to go.”

They heard a throat clear behind them as Abby walked down the stairs. 

“And you’re going to trust her?” Macy said, pointing at Abby. “I’m sorry. While I was gone, did she suddenly become a member of our team?” 

“No, of course not,” Maggie said. “But she’s my ticket in. And I have leverage.” She looked over at Abby, who glared at her in annoyance. “After all, I doubt you want the demon world to find out that you’re half-witch. Plus, I have another plan.” Maggie walked to the cabinet and pulled out a vial. “Truth serum. I’ll get the truth from him one way or another.” 

Macy sighed, realizing this might be the best plan they have. “Fine, then we’ll focus on figuring out more about Jordan while you’re gone.”

“And you’ll call for me, if you run into any trouble,” Harry said, putting his hand on the youngest sister’s shoulder. 

“I promise,” Maggie said. 

Abby walked over to Harry again. She glanced back at Macy and smirked before turning her gaze back to him. “Next time you come to my bedroom, come alone. I can help you spice up some of your moves.” She winked at the oldest Charmed One and walked away. 

Macy glared at Harry as the others portaled away. “I’m sorry, what did I miss?” she said, angrier than she had felt in weeks.

“What are you talking about?” he said. “You know how she is. She’s always saying shit to get a rise out of us.” 

“Yeah, she seems to know a lot more than she did before, though,” she said. “And you two seem to be a lot closer.”

“Why? Because I said we needed to keep her alive in order to get information from her?” he asked, confused.

“Her hands were all over you!” 

“And at any point, did you see me put my hands on her? What? Do you think that while you were missing, in between me portaling to every red light on that witchboard to find you and furiously translating the Book of Elders for clues that I thought to myself, ‘you know what seems like a great idea, I’ll just fuck Abigael’?” 

“Well, she keeps going on about knowing what moves you have and going on adventures with you. You keep blushing and looking away. What am I supposed to think?” she asked, drawing her arms tight around herself.

“You’re supposed to trust me. You’re supposed to know me better than that,” he said, hurt and offended. 

“So, what _adventures_ did you have together then?”

“She helped me figure out how to access my memories that I shared with the Darklighter, so I could fucking try to find you,” he said, frustrated. “So I could figure out that the Darklighter felt the same way for you that I do. So I could have the added panic that he might not only be harming you physically, but that he could be violating you in all sorts of unimaginable ways. And yes, she did see a couple of memories I didn’t want her to, but again, I was more focused on trying to find you than I was on what Abigael was seeing.” 

She looked down, her jaw set in anger. “Exactly which memories did she see?” 

He looked down, knowing Macy would be upset by what he had to tell her. “She saw us having sex. I told her to turn away, but you know her, of course she didn’t. Macy, I didn’t pick which memories presented themselves. I never would have shown that to anyone. And I know you know that, too. So, why are you really so angry?” 

She shook her head. “Not right now. Not here. Let’s get back to Jordan. I have an idea. Just stay here.” 

She walked upstairs to the gym, needing to get out some of her frustration. She knew that Abby was just trying to fuck with her, but it hurt to see her so easily touching Harry. When Abby touched him, she didn’t flinch. She could be sexy and alluring with him. She could be all the things that Macy wanted to be. 

She yanked open the door of the gym and walked inside. “Hey, Jordan,” Macy said abruptly. “I’m Maggie’s sister, Macy. I don’t know that we’ve met yet.”

“Oh, hey, how’s it going?” Jordan said. 

“Good. Maggie was telling me what a great workout she’d had with you and I was wondering if you might be able to squeeze me in for some lessons.”

“Yeah, definitely.”

“Great, when’s your earliest opening?”

Jordan raised his eyebrows. “Wow, you’re really eager. Um, I’ve got a cancellation in like an hour and a half. Is that too soon?”

“Nope, I’ll see you then,” she smiled and turned to leave.

“That whole family is insane,” Jordan muttered to himself as Macy walked out. 

She walked back down to the Command Center. “I have a boxing lesson in an hour and a half. Be ready with the cloning serum to switch out the ring. I’m going home to change.” 

“Okay, let me grab my stuff and we can orb back together,” Harry said.

“No, I just need to be by myself for a while. I’ll meet you at the gym.” 

“Fine, whatever you need,” he said, frustrated. 

* * *

Macy ran back home, finally letting her anger at everything overtake her. This wasn’t fair. This time last week, she was finally on the verge of starting a real relationship with Harry. She should have been celebrating her first date with him. Finding places in the house to make out without her sisters knowing. But no, instead, he was walking on eggshells around her because she flinched every time he came near. She got kidnapped largely because of his feelings for her. Even though Macy logically knew none of this was Harry’s fault, she just wanted to be mad at someone right now. 

She changed into workout clothes and headed back to SafeSpace. She waited in the bar area until it was time for her lesson. 

“Hey Macy, you ready for this?” Jordan said, greeting her as she walked in.

“You bet. Let’s do it.”

He started by going through the different types of punches and demonstrating how to do each. He grabbed a focus mitt to put on his hands, so she could start throwing punches. Macy let herself focus on the drills. Switching between the types of punches. The feeling of the jabs landing against Jordan’s hands. She let all the anger she had been feeling come out through her hits. After a few different drills, Jordan stopped her.

“Nice job. Have you done this before?” 

“Nope. My first time. I guess I’m just a quick learner,” she said, taking a drink of water and catching her breath.

“You’ve definitely got some power behind those punches,” he said, appraisingly.

She noticed Harry walking down the hallway. “Hey, do you think we could spar for the rest of the session?”

“In your first lesson? I don’t normally start sparring until at least the fourth session.”

“The drills are great, but I want to know what it feels like to have a punch come at me. I mean, a fake punch.”

Jordan looked at her skeptically. “Yeah, I guess we could.” He went to place his ring in his gym bag as Harry walked in. “Hey man, can I help you with something?” he said, greeting him.

“Oh, I’m just waiting for Macy to finish her lesson. Mind if I sit down and wait until you all are done?”

Jordan looked to Macy. “You okay with that?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” she said.

Harry sat down on the bench next to Jordan’s gym bag. 

Macy and Jordan began to spar with each other. She threw out a couple of punches to test the waters. He threw back a couple easy jabs for her to duck. She kept an eye on Harry, who was working to clone the ring. As she realized Harry had everything under control, she focused on letting herself spar. The give and take of punches being traded. As she and Jordan went back and forth, she ceased to focus on Harry’s actions. Out of the corner of Jordan’s eye, he noticed Harry messing with his bag. 

“Hey, what are you doing?” Jordan said, turning his attention away from Macy for a moment.

Without thinking, Macy threw another punch, landing it directly against his jaw. “Omigod, are you okay?” she said, immediately regaining focus on her surroundings. “I’m so sorry.” 

“That was a cheap shot,” Jordan said, rubbing his jaw. 

“I didn’t mean to. I just got caught up and I didn’t realize you had turned your head. Are you okay?” 

“First lesson when you’re sparring: always pay attention to your opponent,” he said, reaching out to pull the gloves off Macy’s hands. “We’re done for today. I think you both should leave.” 

“Of course. And again, so very sorry.” She grabbed Harry’s arm and pulled him out of the gym. “I can’t believe I just punched him in the face. Tell me it worked at least.” 

“We got it. Let’s go,” he said as they walked back down to the Command Center.

Harry didn’t want to tell her that he had nearly fumbled the entire mission. He had gotten so caught up in watching her that he almost forgot to clone the ring. Since she came back, he had been so focused on caring for her and making sure she was okay that his attraction to her had gone on the backburner. But today, seeing her in her sports bra and leggings, watching her effortlessly trade punches with Jordan, all of it was awakening his desire. If this had been a week ago, he would have pulled her into the nearest closet and showed her exactly how attracted to her he was. But he couldn’t do that now. 

They walked into the Command Center and Macy asked to try on the ring. Harry handed it to her and she reached out to try to move something across the table.

“Well, it doesn’t seem to have the same effect on me as Maggie,” she said, disappointed. She was hopeful it would be as easy for her as it had been for Maggie. 

“Maybe its powers got depleted by rejuvenating Maggie’s powers,” he suggested. 

“I still feel like this ring holds more answers. We need to find out more about its origins. Where did it come from? What is it made of?”

“A provenance spell, yes…” he smiled.

“We need to get to its essence.” She set the ring on the table and recited an incantation over it. “This should show us the most significant moment in the ring’s history.” 

“And hopefully reveal how this inexplicably cursed boxing instructor got his hands on a ring of such power.” 

They watched as a plume of smoke appeared over the ring. A scene of a witch tied to a pyre cursing someone named Lawrence Mortimer Chase just before being burned to death. Macy listened to the language the witch used as she recited the curse. The smoke dissipated. 

She looked back at Harry. “Cursed to wither five by five? What does that mean?” 

He went over to his laptop and did a quick search for Lawrence Mortimer Chase. She read over his shoulder, skimming the information about him being the Witchfinder General. She looked at his birth and death dates.

“Cursed to wither five by five. He died when he was 25,” she said. She clicked through to a page on Lawrence’s son, also dead at 25. His son, dead at 25. “They’re all cursed.”

“All the men in Jordan’s family die before their 26th birthday. Do we know how old Jordan is?”

She pulled up Jordan’s Facebook and sighed. “He’s 25.” 

“Let’s go home and wait for Maggie to get back. Then we can figure out how to break this curse.”

* * *

He orbed the two of them home. Now that they had figured out the curse, the earlier tension between them returned. 

“Macy, can we just talk, please?” he asked her. 

She sighed. She needed to wash off the sweat from her workout earlier. Plus, she needed a chance to collect her thoughts. The day had been a whirlwind of emotions for her. She was frustrated by the way her body was reacting to touches from her family and Harry. She was angry at Abigael's mere existence. She was disappointed she couldn’t sink into Harry’s arms without feeling a rush of terror at even the thought. “Yeah, let me shower first. I’ll meet you in the attic?” 

He nodded. He went upstairs to wait for her. He started to go through everything that had happened, wracking his brain for possible explanations. He didn’t think he had been doing anything to encourage Abigael’s advances, but maybe he could have done more to discourage them. He was lost in thought and missed the sound of Macy walking in to sit next to him.

“Hey,” she said softly. “You still want to talk?”

He nodded. “Macy, I’m just confused. And I have so many questions and I know it’s not fair of me to ask for answers, but today’s been kind of a rollercoaster and I’m just...I’m lost.”

She took a deep breath. “It’s confusing for me, too. Harry, you were starting to ask me something earlier. Back when Maggie first came in. Let’s start back there.”

“I don’t want to push you to answer anything you’re not comfortable with,” he said, reaching out to touch her arm and then pulling his hand back. “There’s just one thing I need to know. The Darklighter. You’ve alluded to some things and you tense up any time someone touches you, did he...I guess, did he…” He couldn’t bring himself to even say the word.

“You want to know how far he went.” 

He nodded sadly. 

She looked down. “He didn’t go as far as he wanted to. He was definitely...free with his touches. And he was going to go farther. Until you orbed in to get me.” 

“So...he didn’t?” 

“No, it hadn’t gotten that far yet.” 

He closed his eyes, relieved to hear the worst of his fears hadn’t come true. “Okay. You said yet, though.”

“He had a very clear intention for how the rest of the night was going to go. He was going to let me go the next morning if I made a deal with him.”

“What kind of a deal?” 

She opened her mouth and closed it again, struggling to get out the words. “I’m not ready to talk about that yet.”

“Macy, it’s fine. You don’t have to say anything more. I shouldn’t have pushed you.” 

“It’s okay. I know you all were worried, too.”

“We were terrified," he said quietly. He clasped his hands together, doing everything he could to resist the urge to gather her in his arms. “All I’ve wanted to do for the past week is hold you in my arms and feel you against me again.” 

“I know,” she sighed. “You’ve stopped yourself from reaching for me probably a dozen times a day since I got home. I want to reach out for you, too. But I just...can’t. Yet. I want it so badly, but I’m just not ready.”

“I understand that. And Macy, I don’t want to pressure you in any way. After everything you’ve been through, I can move at whatever pace you want to move.”

“I think that’s why I got so upset about Abigael. There’s nothing stopping her. If she wants to reach out and touch you, there’s nothing that’s going to stop her from doing it.”

“But Macy, she’s not the one that I want. That’s still you. It’s never stopped being you,” he said, frustrated.

“I know that and I want you, too. But Harry, the thought of any sort of a physical relationship right now...it terrifies me,” she said, her voice shaking. “I can barely handle the feeling of my sister touching my arm without wanting to run away. The thought of being held or kissing someone or doing anything more than that, I’m not anywhere near there. I don’t know when that’s going to change. And I know we were on the brink of something more, but I can’t be there right now. It’s not fair to ask you to wait around for something I don’t know when or if I’ll be able to give. Right now, I don’t need Harry, my potential boyfriend. I need my best friend. And I hate that, because I know how much both of us want more. I just can’t do that right now. Not with you.” She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. 

He nodded, blinking back tears. “Of course. Macy, if you just want to be friends, I understand. After everything that has happened, it wouldn’t be fair of me to ask you for anything more. Not unless you were ready to give that. As long as I get to keep you in my life in some way, that’s all that I want. I just want you. And however that looks, that’s completely up to you.” 

She nodded, tears flowing freely down her face now. “I’m sorry, Harry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. None of this is your fault,” he said, his voice breaking.

“I’m just going to go downstairs now. Lie down for a while. Let me know when Maggie gets home?” she said, standing up. She needed to get back to her room. She needed to fall apart and she couldn’t do that in front of Harry. 

“Of course,” he said, his voice thick with unshed tears.

Macy walked downstairs, closing the door behind her. She heard the unmistakable sound of a thrown book and Harry finally allowing himself to sob freely. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment or kudos if you feel compelled to do so, especially if you have kind words to say. If you don't have kind words to say, feel free to keep those thoughts to yourself and remember that no one is forcing you to read this story. 
> 
> I'll be honest. This has been an extremely hard week for me. The fact I could even get it together enough to post this chapter is a bit of a miracle, so any kind words would be extremely appreciated. 
> 
> I'll be back next Sunday with the next chapter.


	9. Chapter Nine: The Rules of Engagement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie returns from Parker's and unveils her plan to bring peace between demons and witches. The plan unfolds with disastrous consequences. The sisters spend the night healing while Harry goes to the Command Center.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read, comment, kudos, bookmark, and subscribe. The comments, especially, are very exciting for me. If you feel compelled to do so, please leave a comment. 
> 
> Exciting news: I finished the first draft of the last chapter this week, so I can say with confidence the story will be finished. I was starting to doubt that these last few weeks. Just as a tease, the final page count for this story currently sits at 483 pages. Not all chapters have been beta'd, though, and they tend to get longer after editing. So, there is still a ton of story to go. 
> 
> Speaking of my wonderful beta, this story would be nothing if it weren't for the magical katasstropheee. If you haven't, check out her writing as well. It's some of my favorite fic to read.
> 
> Some dialogue taken from 2x08: The Rules of Engagement.

As soon as Macy closed the attic door, Harry let himself fall apart. They had been so close to really being together. He was so happy. They were finally on the same page and just as everything was falling into place, it all got ripped away. And now that hope was gone. All because of his Darklighter. A piece of himself was the reason everything he wanted was out of reach yet again. 

He stood up and walked over to his desk. He shoved all the papers off of it, just needing to throw something. He needed to get rid of this anger somehow. The worst part was that he couldn’t be mad at Macy. He completely understood why she was pulling away from him. Even though she hadn’t told him everything that happened while she was with the Darklighter, what she said so far was horrifying. Knowing his feelings for her were partly responsible for that experience was killing him. 

He quickly orbed down to Mel’s room. She was still at the Command Center. He grabbed his belongings and changed the bedsheets for her. He sent her a text thanking her for allowing him to stay close to Macy these past few nights, but he thought it was time to return to his own room. He looked over at Macy’s closed door and orbed back to the attic. Lying down, he let himself cry over the potential of what could have been. 

Downstairs, Macy was doing almost exactly what Harry had done. She curled up in bed under her blankets. She pictured the look on Harry’s face as she broke things off with him. She could actually see the hope in his eyes disappear. It wasn’t fair. If only he had been angry with her or lashed out in some way, then she could be angry, too. Instead, he was completely understanding about her feelings. 

* * *

The next morning, Harry and Macy awoke to a text from Mel telling them to get to SafeSpace right away. There had been another attack at the Sacred Grove. She needed their help immediately. Macy got up and pulled on some fresh clothes. She walked out of her room, just as Harry was coming downstairs. 

“Did you see Mel’s text?” she asked him.

“Yes, I was just coming to see if you had,” he said. “Do you want to orb over to the Command Center together? It sounded like she needed us to get there as soon as possible.” He was avoiding her eyes. He seemed to have as rough a night as she did. His eyes were bloodshot. He had skipped shaving this morning. 

“Yeah, let’s go,” she said. He put out his arm for her to grab and orbed them to SafeSpace. 

“Oh thank god,” Mel said. “There’s a few different red lights at the Sacred Grove. Let’s go now.” 

Harry and Macy followed her through the portal. They landed and saw three witches surrounded by at least a dozen demons. 

Macy started throwing fireballs, vanquishing a couple of the demons. Harry sent out a few stunning spells, able to stop a couple more in their tracks. 

Mel recognized Layla and rushed over to her, pulling her out of sight of the demons. Layla had a couple burns on her from fireballs and a deep cut along her arm. 

“Are you okay?” Mel asked her.

“Yes, I’m fine. Please, just help the others,” Layla said. “I’ll be fine right here.” 

Mel went back to the others. She acted as a lookout while the two of them threw out fireballs and other spells. It reached a point where the demons had the other two witches cornered. The remaining demons grabbed the witches and disappeared with them. 

“Damn it,” Harry yelled. Realistically, he knew they were outnumbered from the start. However, he couldn’t help but take every loss even more personally right now. Every loss made him feel like a failure. Just another witch he couldn’t protect. 

“Harry, it’s okay,” Mel said, putting her hand on his shoulder. “We got Layla at least. Let’s take her back to the Command Center.”

Harry nodded and threw the marble to reopen the portal. Mel and Macy helped carry Layla. As they arrived in the Command Center, they helped Layla up on a table so Harry could heal her injuries.

Another portal opened and Maggie walked through in the same clothes from yesterday. 

“Are you just now getting home?” Mel asked. “Where have you been all night?”

Maggie ignored the question and rushed over to Layla. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“After the Sacred Grove massacre, a group of witches banded together to patrol the magical communities and protect them from attacks,” Layla explained through gritted teeth while Harry continued to heal her.

“While patrolling, Layla and her cohort were attacked by demons,” Macy explained.

“Demons,” Maggie said to herself. 

“We got to her just in time. But the others were taken,” Harry said in a monotone. He was still so frustrated by everything that had happened.

“I know how to fix this,” Maggie said, leaving the Command Center. “I’ll meet you all at home.”

Macy and Mel looked at each other. “I do not have a good feeling about this,” Macy said.

“Me either. Let’s figure out what she has planned,” Mel said. 

“I’m going to get Layla back home and then I’ll meet you at home,” Harry said, grabbing Layla to orb her home. 

* * *

The older sisters arrived home and went straight to Maggie’s room.

“What happened last night?” Mel immediately asked. “Is Parker really the Overlord?”

“Yes, but it’s not what you’re thinking,” Maggie defended. “He’s still Parker. He’s not evil.”

“Or you’re blinded by your feelings for him,” Mel responded. “Demons keep killing witches and he’s apparently in charge of the demons.” 

She brushed past her sisters and went downstairs to the kitchen, pulling out some juice for herself. Harry orbed into the dining room just as Macy and Mel were following their sister. Macy and Harry nearly collided with each other.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, immediately pulling back from Macy and avoiding her eyes. “What’s the plan?”

“We still don’t know,” Macy whispered as she walked into the dining room. 

“Maggie, we need to fight back. They’ve attacked the witch community. We need to fight back with force,” Mel said, trying to make her sister see reason.

“No!” Maggie exclaimed. “We can handle this peacefully.”

“There are two missing witches who might still be alive,” Harry added. “The last thing we want to do is incite war.” He understood that Mel was upset, but he generally wanted to err on the side of a peaceful solution.

“We’re already at war, Harry,” Macy said, unable to believe he seemed to side with Maggie. “An entire species was massacred this week! We can’t do nothing.” 

“Abigael confessed to massacring the dryads,” Maggie said.

“Wait? She did?” Harry said, confused. 

“Yes, because it’s so surprising that Abigael might have been lying to us. She’s never done that before,” Macy said, glaring at him. 

Harry sighed with tired frustration. He started to respond, but Maggie cut him off.

“Parker wants peace,” Maggie emphasized.

“And why should you believe him?” Mel asked. “He’s lied to you so many times. Emotions cloud judgment.”

“He did try to take our powers,” Macy reminded her.

Harry sensed that Maggie was about to shut them all out and tried to intervene. “Okay, look, we can figure out how to handle this. Let’s just go through our options again.”

“No. You know what? I am so tired of being treated like a child by all of you,” Maggie said. “Parker and I came up with a solution to bring about peace between demons and witches.”

“And what is this grand plan of yours?” Mel asked, her arms crossed.

“If a witch becomes family to the Demon Overlord, there would be an enforceable peace treaty,” Maggie said.

Harry’s eyebrows raised. She couldn’t be about to say what he was thinking. 

“I’m going to marry Parker Caine,” Maggie said. She went back to her room before she could see the reactions of her sisters and Whitelighter.

For the first time since last night, Macy and Harry’s eyes met. The awkwardness between them had been superseded by their panic over Maggie’s insane plan. Mel was already out the door to follow Maggie upstairs. Macy went to stand up.

“We need to stop this,” Harry said. “Please. Talk some sense into your sister.”

Macy nodded and ran upstairs to join her sisters. Mel was laying into Maggie. Macy put her hand on her arm, trying to rein her in. Berating Maggie was not going to stop this.

“Maggie, we’re just trying to understand,” Macy explained. “So, your only reason for marrying him is to become family?”

“It’s not just that. I love Parker. I’ve always loved him. You two know this,” Maggie said, sitting down on her bed. 

“Maggie, what does this mean for our family, though? What does it mean for the Power of Three?” Mel said, sitting down next to her sister.

“The Power of Three is AWOL right now anyway,” Maggie said, frustrated.

“Maggie, what is in this for Parker?” Macy asked. “You need him in order to ensure witches stay safe, but what does Parker get from this?”

“I don’t know! Me? Parker has always loved me. I know you guys don’t trust him, but I do. Why can’t that be enough?” 

“Because you’re our sister and we want to keep you safe,” Mel said. “Marriage is a huge commitment and it doesn’t always work out. What happens if this goes south? What happens to a peace treaty in a demon divorce?”

“I need to do something in order to keep us all safe,” Maggie said, pleading with them to understand. “And if that means I have to marry the man I love, why wouldn’t I do that?”

“You haven’t talked to Parker in months,” Macy said. “Now, he’s the Demon Overlord? What else has changed with him? And Maggie, you’re not the same person you were when we left Hilltowne, either. I know you think this isn’t a big deal, but it is. You’re sacrificing yourself for the benefit of others. I know what that can do to you emotionally. Some sacrifices are too great.” 

“It’s not a sacrifice, though. I love Parker. And maybe this was how we were always meant to end up. I’m sorry if you don’t approve, but I don’t need you to. I’m not asking your permission,” Maggie said as she finished packing a bag of clothes. She grabbed her belongings and walked back. The older sisters looked at each other as they heard the front door slam shut.

Harry came running into the room. “What happened? I thought you were going to talk her out of it!”

“We tried!” Macy yelled. “She isn't listening to reason. She thinks that her love for him is going to be enough to save everything.”

“We have to do something. This wedding cannot happen,” Harry said. 

* * *

Harry and the sisters went back to the Command Center. Mel began to flip through the Book of Elders.

“There has to be something in here. This plan is insane and it’s a little too convenient how everything is lining up. None of this makes sense,” Mel said, angrily.

“Agreed. Something isn’t adding up with Abigael’s involvement. She told us she wasn’t involved in the Dryad massacre, but then she confessed to it all of a sudden? It doesn’t make sense. Either she knows more than she’s letting on or someone is setting her up. Regardless, we need to find out what’s going on,” Harry said.

“I’m sorry, Maggie is about to make the biggest mistake of her life and you’re focusing on Abigael right now,” Macy said, incredulously. “Seriously?” 

“Macy, I’m not worried about Abigael. I just think she may be the key to figuring out how this plan is unfolding so quickly. We need to find out if she’s being set up or she’s doing the setting up,” Harry said, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

Mel looked at the two as they glared at each other. She had never seen them this upset with each other. “Guys, focus, we need to figure out how to make Maggie see reason here.” 

“Fine, we need to find out whose hands are really dirty here,” Macy said, looking away from Harry. 

“Starting with the groom,” Mel agreed. “What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall in that lair.”

Harry paused before running over to the Book of Elders. “What if you could? I’m certain I remember a shapeshifter passage somewhere.” He frantically flipped through the pages. “Here it is.” 

“Wait, you really think you could turn me into an actual fly?” 

“Anything is possible with the right spell,” he said, shrugging. “Here it is. Shoulders to wings. Feet to flight. The human shall fly. A curse to spite.”

“So, it’s not a spell? It’s a curse,” Macy realized. “Different plan then. We’re not doing that.”

“Curses can be broken, though,” Mel said, already set on this current plan.

“Mel, there is no protection with a curse,” he explained.

“If we turn you into a fly and someone squishes you…” Macy said.

“You would actually die,” he finished. “There has to be another way.” 

“Maggie may die if anything goes wrong with her plan, so that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make,” Mel said. “Look, I’m doing this with or without you.” 

He sighed, realizing he wasn’t going to be able to stop Mel. “Fine. We’re going to need a bunch of houseflies then. You two go back home and try to find some flies. I’m going to keep working on the translation of the curse. If we’re going to do this, we need to know how to break it.” 

* * *

The sisters went back to the house and went to the attic. Macy hadn’t been up here since last night. She thought back to her conversation with Harry and started to tear up. She shook her head. She had to focus on Maggie right now. Her own broken heart could wait. 

“Mace, are you okay?” Mel asked. “Things seemed...off between you and Harry earlier.” 

“What?” Macy scoffed, trying to brush her off. “I’m fine. I just can’t believe Harry keeps trying to give Abigael the benefit of the doubt. He’s letting himself be manipulated by her.”

“Well, you know Harry, he always tries to see the best in everyone,” Mel said. “But even still, I think he’s just trying to stay on her good side, so we can keep getting information from her?”

“But that’s the whole issue,” Macy said. “Why are we trusting any of the information she’s giving us? How do we know she isn’t the one behind everything? She’s just...so fucking infuriating.” 

“Macy, are you jealous?” Mel asked gently. 

Macy tensed up. Maggie and Mel didn’t know about her feelings for Harry. “Jealous? Why would I be jealous of Abigael?” she scoffed. 

Mel deliberated for a moment. She and Maggie were going to tell Macy the truth about the tracking spell, eventually. She just hoped Maggie would be there to break the news. She was so much better with this stuff. There was no escaping this now, though. She needed to come clean. 

“Maggie and I didn’t tell you everything about what happened while we were looking for you. We told you we did a tracking spell, but it had specific requirements. We had to come up with something that you desired, something you denied yourself, and something that you dreaded. We tried a couple different things at first, but we were wrong and the spell was going haywire…” Mel trailed off. 

Macy looked at Mel nervously. “And? How did you make it work?” 

“Just please keep in mind that at this point, we were all terrified of what was happening and we were desperate to do anything. Plus, every time we got the spell wrong, a demon hellhound thing tried to attack us and it kept getting bigger.” 

“Just get to the point, Mel. What did you two do?” she snapped. 

“We read through your diary to try to figure out what might fit the categories we needed.”

The color drained out of Macy’s face. “I cannot believe you two.”

“Macy, we were desperate. The only thing that worked to finish the spell was when we had something to represent Harry. You dread your feelings for him. You’re denying yourself the chance to be with him. And the desire, well, that was very apparent.” 

Macy turned her back to Mel and crossed her arms. “You two weren’t supposed to find out yet.” 

“We talked to Harry about it,” Mel said, sighing. 

Macy whipped around and glared. There was so much in there she had written about Harry. Things she never wanted him to know. Things she would have been mortified for him to find out. “You did what? Tell me you didn’t let him read my diary, too?” 

“No, we never would have done that,” Mel reassured her. “But Harry admitted to us how he feels about you. Macy, you didn’t see him while you were gone. Maggie and I were terrified, but it was nothing compared to how Harry felt. He didn’t sleep or eat the entire time you were missing. He was frantic. So, trust me when I say this, Harry feels nothing for Abigael.”

Macy sat down on the couch, her shoulders hunched and her arms pulled tight around herself. She wanted to believe Mel. She wanted to just go back to two weeks ago when she and Harry were happy. Back when her biggest worry was that Mel and Maggie wouldn’t approve of their relationship. Before the Darklighter ruined everything. 

“Macy?” Mel said, cautiously sitting down next to her sister. “Harry told me you guys were going to try and be together before you were taken. It seems clear that both of you want that. I know you were worried about how your relationship would impact me and Maggie, but you don’t need to be. We just want you to be happy. If Harry makes you happy, then Maggie and I are fully on board with the two of you.”

“And you think I don’t want that?” she asked, looking at her sister with pleading eyes. “Mel, all I want is to be with him. No one has ever understood me the way that Harry does. When something good happens, he’s the first person I want to tell. When something bad happens, he’s the only one I want to comfort me. I love everything about him, even the things I find infuriating. I have never wanted anyone the way I want him.” 

Harry orbed into the living room. They had just received a text from Maggie saying the wedding got moved to tonight. He looked around the house for the sisters. He heard muffled voices coming from upstairs, so he went to find them. 

“So, why are you stopping yourself?” he heard Mel ask.

“Because now every time he touches me, I feel my skin crawling. When he looks at me, I see the Darklighter looking at me. There are times I feel physically sick when I look at him,” he heard Macy say. 

His shoulders slumped and he turned around. He couldn’t listen to any more. Every time he thought he had lost all hope for a future with Macy, he felt a little more get ripped away from him. The sisters would eventually see the text. He couldn’t be here right now. He orbed back to the Command Center. 

“And yet, Mel, with all of that, I still desperately want him,” Macy said, relaxing against the back of the couch. “While I see the Darklighter at first glance, that feeling passes. I see the warmth in his eyes and my fear goes away. But he feels me tense up and he pulls away. He blames himself so much for what the Darklighter did and that kills me. Seeing how guilty he feels makes me feel guilty. It’s hard enough dealing with everything else, but Harry just sees me as this broken person now and it makes me feel like I am broken.”

Mel reached for Macy’s hand. “Macy, no. You are not broken. You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. We love you. And Harry loves you. He wouldn’t push you into something you didn’t want. But Macy, everything you’ve said is that you do want this. So, why don’t you give it a chance? Just take things slow. Don’t let the Darklighter take one more thing from you. Don’t let him win.” 

A tear rolled down Macy’s cheek. “I can’t think about this right now. Please, can we just go back to trying to help Maggie? Please?” She looked at her sister, desperate to stop talking about this.

“Of course, but if you need to talk about this, we’re here for you,” Mel said. “We are always here for you.” 

Macy nodded and went back to collecting more flies. Once they had a dozen of them, they went back to the Command Center. Harry sat at the table, looking over the Book of Elders. He couldn’t make eye contact with the sisters. If he looked at Macy, he would fall apart.

“Not a moment too soon,” he said. “Have you checked your texts?” 

Macy shook her head and pulled out her phone. “Fuck, they’re getting married tonight?” 

“Then we better brew fast. We have to get this done and get ready for a wedding,” Mel said.

“We don’t know how to break the curse yet,” Macy argued.

“We’ll figure it out,” she responded.

* * *

They finished brewing the potion needed for the curse and headed back to the house, needing to get dressed for a wedding. Harry immediately went up to his room. He had barely said two words to either of the sisters since the announcement of Maggie’s wedding date. 

Macy pulled out a jumpsuit from her closet. It was strapless with a rectangular cutout at the neckline. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and put some beads into her hair. She placed a silver belt around her waist. She had bought this outfit months ago when they were still in Hilltowne and had been waiting for an excuse to wear it. It felt like a lifetime ago. She sighed, thinking about how much life had changed. When she bought it, in the back of her mind, she thought of how Harry might react to it. Even though she had been trying to distance herself from him, she still longed for the reactions he gave her. He always made her feel so desired, so powerful. She finished her makeup and walked downstairs.

Harry stood by the front door, waiting for the sisters. He wasn’t looking at the stairs, so she just saw his profile. He wore a tuxedo with a plum-colored overcoat. Macy already knew how phenomenal he looked in a suit. She wanted to reach out to him and fix his slightly crooked bow tie. She wanted to tell him how incredibly attractive she found him right now, but she couldn’t. 

Harry heard footsteps and looked over to the staircase. His breath caught as he looked at Macy. Every time he thought she couldn’t look more gorgeous, she proved him wrong. He looked at her exposed collarbone and shoulders. The subtle hint of her cleavage. For just a moment, he let himself imagine they were going on their first date. That this was a happy occasion. He longed to pull her into his arms and tell her exactly how lovely he found her tonight, but he couldn’t. 

While Macy and Harry were looking at each other, Mel walked downstairs to join them. She looked at the two, who seemed to be lost in their own world. She asked herself again how she could have missed the relationship between the two of them. Their love for the other was shining through their eyes. She didn't need Maggie's empath abilities to see that. 

Mel cleared her throat. “We should probably get going.” 

Harry broke his gaze from Macy’s. “Yes, we should.” He glanced back up at her. “You look lovely tonight.” He looked over at Mel. “Both of you do.” 

Mel smiled. “You don’t look half bad yourself, Harry.” 

* * *

Harry orbed them to Parker’s lair in Switzerland. As they walked in, they started looking around, trying to find Maggie. 

“I finished translating the page in the Book of Elders about the Mutatio curse. The only way to break it is for the cursed one to land on a mirror and see their own reflection. It placed an emphasis on self-reflection, so it may be that you need to look within yourself. It wasn’t very detailed about that part,” Harry said. 

They looked up and saw Maggie walking down the stairs towards them. She started to smile at the sight of her family. 

“You all came,” she said.

“Maggie, it’s your wedding day,” Mel said. “Of course we’re here.” 

“I just wasn’t sure after this morning,” Maggie said softly. 

“We’re sorry for that. You know we just want to protect you because we love you,” Macy said.

“Exactly. But you’re right. You’re not a little kid anymore,” Mel said. “That’s just hard for me.” 

“Thanks, guys,” Maggie smiled at them.

“But you’re sure about this?” Harry asked. “It’s not too late to change your mind. I can orb us out of here in the blink of an eye.” 

“I’m good, but thank you, Harry,” she smiled at him. “I have to finish getting ready. After all, it is my wedding day.” She turned to walk away.

As soon as she was safely out of earshot, Mel turned to Harry and Macy. “Alright, let’s do this. We don’t have very much time.” 

“Mel, I cannot stress enough how vulnerable you will be,” Harry emphasized. “Flies have a very short lifespan for a reason.” 

“I know, but I got this,” she responded, taking the potion vial with her and walking away. 

Harry and Macy were left together, uncertain of what to do next. He moved to walk away. “Where are you going?” she asked him.

“We need to find Abigael,” he said, turning to look at her. “I doubt she wants this wedding any more than we do, so our interests may be aligned. She might be able to offer some insight into how this sudden plan came about.”

“Seriously, Harry? Why do you keep thinking she can help us?” she asked, irritated.

“Because someone has to be able to. And I don’t know what else to do right now,” he said, frustrated. “I have to do something. I can’t just stand here and wait for something to happen.” He turned to walk away.

Macy sighed and followed him. They made their way down to the basement. 

Harry looked around, realizing something felt wrong. “Why aren’t there any guards?” 

They reached a cage and saw that it was open. Macy shook her head. “See, I don’t know why you’re putting so much faith in Abigael. All she does is double-cross us.” 

“Goddamn it, Macy. Will you stop it? I don’t have faith in Abigael,” he said, not able to take it anymore. “I just see that things aren’t adding up and I think she can provide answers. I don’t trust her, but I do think she can be useful to us. If she weren’t our link to the fucking demon world, I’d be perfectly content never laying eyes on her ever again.” 

Macy glared at Harry. Her phone chimed with a text. She looked down to read it. “It’s Mel. Maggie kicked her out of the wedding.”

Harry ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “Fuck, this is a disaster.” 

She looked back up at him. “You were right about Abby, though. She didn’t kill the dryads. Godric did. He gave a sacred apple to Parker.” 

They walked back upstairs. Harry was trying to figure out the grand plan here. Why would Abby confess to the dryad massacre if she didn’t do it? He still didn’t know what to believe. 

“Harry,” he heard a voice whisper. He turned around to see Abby standing behind him. She ran over and hugged him. He tensed up and pushed her back from him as soon as he saw the glare on Macy’s face. 

“Abby, what’s going on here?” he asked her.

“There’s going to be an assassination attempt on the bride and groom. We’re the only ones who can stop it,” she responded, keeping her hands on his shoulders. He flinched and she dropped her hands. “I pretended to have my powers stripped, and then I escaped. That’s when I heard the guards talking about the assassination attempt.”

He looked over at Macy. Her arms were crossed and she was glaring at Abby. “Macy, if Parker ate that apple, he’s protected from magic,” Harry realized.

Macy sighed. “And Maggie isn’t. In a room full of demons.” She turned to look at Abby. “Why on earth should we believe you? You’ve lied to us time and time again. Why would this time be any different?”

“You can choose to believe I’m lying, but if I’m not, your sister is in danger and I have a plan to get us out,” she smirked. 

Abby explained her plan to the other two as they walked into the hall. Harry and Macy took their seats as Abby stood close to the wall. Maggie walked down the aisle to the altar. She made eye contact with Macy and shook her head.

“Something’s wrong with Maggie, Harry. I think she’s changed her mind. She wants out of this.”

“Good, because we’re not leaving here without her.” He stood up and walked over to Abby. He grabbed her by the shoulders from behind and whispered in her ear. “The moment it looks like you’re double-crossing Maggie, I will have no problem at all exposing you. Do you understand me?” 

She glanced over her shoulder at him. “She will leave here unscathed. You have my word.” 

“She had better. She is my family and I will stop at nothing to protect her. They will always be my priority.” Harry moved back to sit down next to Macy. 

At the altar, Godric announced the beginning of a blood ritual to ensure Maggie’s obedience to Parker. He grabbed her hand and pulled out a knife. Maggie yelled.

Harry looked back at Abigael and nodded at her. She caused a distraction, allowing Harry and Macy to run to the altar. He grabbed Maggie’s arm and orbed them back to the Command Center. 

Maggie sat down and began to cry. “I’m sorry, guys. I was so naive. I wanted to believe that Parker’s goodness would win out. He’s always going to have his demon side, though. It was such a stupid plan. I just wanted to do something that was actually helpful for a change and I thought this could be my way to do it.”

He moved over to put his arm around the youngest sister. “Never apologize for trying to see the best in people. Your faith in others is one of your best qualities. It didn’t work out this time and it maybe wasn’t the most well thought-out plan. But you’re not wrong to want to see the good in others.” 

Maggie leaned her head against Harry’s shoulder and cried. “I just feel so stupid.”

Macy came and sat next to Maggie. “You were right about something, though. You’re a grown woman and you have a lot of great ideas. We see that.” 

Harry looked over at Mel and saw a large crack on the floor, along with some black sap. “What happened in here?” 

“I noticed roots coming out of this column, so I started to investigate. That’s when I found this liquid. I don’t know what it is, though,” Mel explained.

“That looks like black amber,” he said. 

Maggie walked over to the floor and leaned down. She touched the sap and immediately froze. “Omigod, my vision. It’s Parker. The person punching Jordan was Parker. He’s going to kill him.” 

“Shit, the curse,” Macy said. “We have to stop this from happening.” 

They ran out of the Command Center and up the stairs towards the boxing gym. “Parker’s already in there with him,” Maggie said. “We have to get everyone out of here.”

Macy looked up at the fire alarm and created a flame to set it off. Maggie ran into the gym. 

“Parker, stop!” she yelled. “Leave Jordan alone!” 

“Maggie? You know this guy?” Jordan asked, trying to figure out what was happening.

“Oh, is this a thing, Vera?” Parker asked, motioning towards Jordan. His eyes flashed red. “The two of you are together?” 

“Parker, stop. You’re not thinking straight. There is no thing here,” Maggie tried to convince Parker. She moved closer to them. 

Jordan stepped in front of Maggie. “Look, you don’t want trouble here. If you take another step in her direction, I will show you out myself.” 

Parker pushed Jordan aside and continued to move towards Maggie. Jordan reached up and punched him in the face. Parker grabbed Jordan by the throat and choked him.

Maggie ran towards Parker. “Stop it! Let him go!” she said, reaching out to try to get him to drop his hold on Jordan.

Parker looked down and gave Maggie an evil smile. He threw Jordan across the room. As Jordan landed, he lost consciousness.

Mel and Macy stood in the doorway, trying to figure out what to do. Mel reached her hand out towards Parker. Suddenly, Parker turned to ice and was immobilized. Harry ran into the room just as Parker was frozen.

“Molecular manipulation,” he said. “That’s incredible.” The ice version of Parker shattered into a plume of smoke as he escaped to the lobby area.

“The apples,” Macy realized. “He’s immune to magic.” She tossed a fireball at him, trying to slow him down in any way. Harry orbed next to Parker and tackled him to the ground. Parker looked over at Harry, laughed, and came back up next to Maggie. 

“Parker, this isn’t you,” Maggie cried. “What are you doing?”

“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you thought, Vera,” he said. “Maybe this is me now.” 

He stepped back just as Abigael opened a portal and walked into the gym. She pulled out a knife and stabbed Parker in the back. His eyes opened wide as he fell to the ground. Maggie cried out and went to hold him in her arms. 

“Harry!” she yelled. “Please! You have to heal him!” She brushed his hair back and cried. “Please,” she begged. “He can’t be gone.” 

“Maggie,” Harry sighed. “He’s too far gone. The demon side has too strong a hold of him.”

“No! I don’t accept that! He can still be saved. He doesn’t deserve to die!” 

He reluctantly kneeled down and began to heal the demon. He focused his energy on Parker’s wound, but nothing changed. Maggie continued to cry harder. 

“No, why isn’t it working?” she cried. 

Mel and Macy kneeled down next to their sister.

“Maggie, he ate the apple, so he’s immune to Harry’s healing magic,” Macy said. “I’m so sorry. There’s nothing we can do.” 

Maggie continued to hold him and run her hands through his hair. She pulled his face to hers and kissed his forehead. “No, no, no. Why can’t he just wake up?” She felt his life go out of him. 

Harry kneeled next to her. “Maggie, he’s gone. There’s nothing more you can do.”

Maggie let go of Parker and threw herself against Harry. He held her while she cried. He looked over at the other two sisters. “Let me take you all home. I’ll come back and get all of this cleaned up.”

Mel and Macy both nodded. They grabbed on to Harry and he orbed them home. Maggie had yet to let go of Harry. He carried her upstairs and set her on the bed. “I’ll be back later,” he said. “You two take care of your sister.”

* * *

Harry went back to Safe Space. Abby had already left with Parker’s body. He went over to Jordan, who remained unconscious. He quickly healed him and then wiped his memory of the magic. He walked around the building, trying to see if there were any other potential witnesses. Seeing none, he orbed back home. 

He walked upstairs, peeking his head into Maggie’s room. The sisters were all sitting on the bed together, having changed into their pajamas. “Are you all okay?” he asked. 

“We’re getting there,” Mel said. Maggie had her head on Mel’s shoulder and Mel was running her fingers through her sister’s hair. 

He sighed with relief. The stress of the day was getting to him. He knew Maggie’s heart was broken, but that wasn’t a wound he could heal. Besides, he had his own broken heart to tend to at the moment. He looked at Macy, who was holding Maggie’s hand tentatively. He couldn’t be near her tonight. He couldn’t sit up in that attic that was filled with so many wonderful memories with her. 

“I’m going to stay in the Command Center tonight,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Keep an eye on the witchboard.” 

Macy’s brow furrowed. Harry seemed off. He had been upset all day, which she understood. She felt the same way. She had never seen him look so despondent, though. “Are you sure, Harry? You don’t have to run off for the whole night.”

He looked at her sadly. “I’m sure. The three of you need each other tonight. You need some space to heal.” He met Macy’s glance and she understood he wasn’t just talking about Maggie. 

He walked away and Maggie lifted her head off Mel’s shoulder. “I just can’t believe Parker’s really gone. He went so dark so quickly.”

Macy put her hand on Maggie’s leg. “It might have been the apples. They could have caused some sort of mania to accelerate his descent into darkness.” 

Maggie shook her head. “Nobody forced him to eat those apples. He wasn’t able to resist them.” 

“Power of that magnitude always comes at a cost,” Macy agreed.

“I know how painful this is, but you can’t let it break your spirit,” Mel said. “You have so much good in you and the world needs that right now. Now, come on, I know what would make you feel better. We’ve got everything we need for ice cream sundaes. We haven’t had a movie night in forever.” 

Maggie smiled sadly. “And you won’t care if I pick something super sad? Because I really just want to cry tonight.” 

“No judgments here,” Macy said. “Pick the saddest movie you can find.” 

Maggie looked at Mel mischievously. “You know I’m going to pick A Walk to Remember then, right? The Notebook’s too hopeful for today.” 

Mel grimaced. “You’re lucky I love you.” 

The sisters took the ice cream and all the toppings into the living room as Mel started the movie. Two hours later, Maggie was a hysterical mess as Landon talked about how he could feel Jamie’s love all around him.

“This was a terrible idea,” Maggie said between sobs. “Why did you let me pick this movie?”

Macy shrugged. “You said you wanted to cry. Maybe this just did that job a little too well.” 

“Ugh, enough of this. Can we talk about anything else tonight?” Maggie said, turning off the TV and wiping her eyes. “I need a distraction from this distraction.” 

“I didn’t get a chance to tell you earlier, Mags, but I told Macy about what we had to do for the tracking spell,” Mel said. 

Maggie hesitantly looked at her oldest sister and grimaced. “Are you mad at us?” 

“No,” Macy said. “I know you guys were just trying to find me. If anything, I’m embarrassed. I never wanted anyone to read that stuff.”

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Maggie said. “So...you and Harry? Are you guys going to be a thing now?”

Macy sighed. “I don’t think so.”

“Mace, I know what you said earlier, but I think you’re wrong,” Mel said. “Without thinking about everything else, when you think about Harry, what do you want?”

“I want to be with him,” Macy admitted. “I want that more than anything else.” 

“So, what’s stopping you?” Maggie asked her. “Trust me, if you have someone you love, who loves you back, you need to jump at that opportunity. Don’t worry about how it might affect Mel and me. It’ll be a change, but we’ll deal with it. Looking back on everything, the two of you were kind of inevitable. I’m all aboard the Hacy ship. Promise.”

“Hacy?” Macy asked. 

“Yes, it’s your couple name. Don’t fight it,” Maggie laughed.

“I am in favor, too,” Mel said. “I saw the way you looked at each other tonight. The obstacles you two have right now aren’t dealbreakers. It just means you have to work a little harder to communicate.” 

“You guys are right. Do you mind if I head over to the Command Center? I need to talk to Harry.” 

“Go!” Maggie said, smiling for the first time that night. 

* * *

Harry stopped at a liquor store on his way back to the Command Center. He knew he could have orbed back there, but the cold, dreary night felt comforting. He bought one of the larger bottles of scotch they had and took it with him. 

He poured a glass and sat down next to the control panel. He instantly remembered him and Macy leaning against the table as she told him she only needed to look in his eyes and know it was him rather than the Darklighter. He downed the glass, trying to get her face out of his mind. 

He poured another glass and moved over to the chair by their chalkboard. He remembered Macy sitting in this same chair as he begged her to get some rest. Another glass down, but her face remained.

And so the process continued. Pour a glass, move to a new spot, remember a time where Macy had been there, toss back the scotch. This was no better than being at home. She was everywhere. Her essence wrapped itself around him. Where her presence used to feel like a warm blanket, now it felt like a vice grip. 

He quickly reached the end of the bottle and looked up despairingly. He had ended up near the bookshelves. He leaned against the table. It wasn’t until that moment he realized how drunk he was. His limbs felt heavy. His vision blurred to the point he could barely make out shapes. If he held his head still, he could see someone walking towards him. 

“Who’s there?” he asked, slurring his words. He tried to focus his vision and make out their shape. Their face kept swimming in front of him. He could finally make out eyes. Beautiful, brown eyes. He wanted to spend the rest of his life looking into those eyes. His heart soared and he smiled. “It’s you. You came back to me.” 

“I want you, Harry,” she said. She leaned in and kissed him. “And I think you want me, too.” 

He so badly wanted this. All logical thought flew out the window as lust completely took over. He grabbed her and deepened the kiss. 

She reached down and started to unbutton his shirt. “Let’s move this back to my place.” 

Harry turned her around and pushed her against the bookshelf. He pulled off her shirt and began to kiss down her neck. “Too drunk to orb.” 

She looked up and saw Macy standing in the doorway with a heartbroken look on her face. Abigael gave her a wicked smirk.

“It’s okay. I’ll get us home safely,” Abigael said. She opened a portal and took Harry back to her apartment. 

Macy stood frozen. He had told her so many times that he didn’t want Abby. As soon as Macy told him no, though, he went straight to her. She ran home, shut herself into her bedroom, and cried herself to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it ends for this week. Please don't murder me. There is a plan and remember that all roads lead to Hacy. We've got just a few more chapters of angst ahead of us before we get to the "happy ending" part of things.
> 
> If you want to read some fluffy Hacy to counteract the angst of this update, I did just finish my story "Hold My Hand" earlier this week. It's an AU that is part tooth-rotting fluff, part smut. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and have a great week!


	10. Chapter Ten: Guess Who's Coming to SafeSpace Seattle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Macy deal with the aftermath of Harry's night with Abigael. People from the past resurface. Macy deals with a new threat to the Command Center.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, a massive thank you to the wonderful katasstropheee for her phenomenal beta work on this chapter. 
> 
> Some dialogue borrowed from 2x09: Guess Who's Coming to SafeSpace Seattle.
> 
> Edited to add a content warning: When I first posted this, I did not think to add this content warning at the beginning and I sincerely apologize. Thank you to the reader who requested this. I mentioned earlier in the story that there is no rape in this story and I stand by that assertion. However, the situation between Harry and Abigael is dubious at best and her actions are completely not okay. There will still be more information to come about what exactly happened between the two of them. At this point, Harry does not remember what happened between the two of them. I sincerely apologize to anyone who was inadvertently triggered by the depiction of that scene. It was absolutely not my intention. Thank you to the reader who pointed that out to me.

Harry woke up the next morning with the worst hangover of his life. He might actually still have been a little drunk. His head was pounding. It felt like his mouth was lined with cotton balls. He opened his eyes and looked around the room. He was laying in a bed that was not his own. He didn’t quite recognize the room, but something about it felt vaguely familiar. 

He struggled to remember the events of last night. He remembered drinking a lot of scotch very quickly. He remembered someone coming into the Command Center. He briefly remembered kissing that person.The blood rushed out of his head. Oh no, he hadn’t. He could not have been that colossally stupid. 

He looked to the other side of the bed and his worst fears were confirmed. Abigael lay there sound asleep. Harry quickly and quietly stood up from the bed, collected his clothes from the floor, and orbed back to the manor.

He paced back and forth in the attic. How? How could he have been so stupid? He remembers thinking that Macy was coming to him in the Command Center. But that had just been wishful thinking and alcohol. Now, he remembers. Her touch was too aggressive. Her hair was too straight. Her skin was too pale. Her eyes were more hazel than brown. Everything about her felt wrong. He laid down in his bed and fell asleep, overwhelmed with shame and guilt. No one could ever find out about this. 

Macy sat downstairs in the kitchen. She had eventually cried herself to sleep last night. It wasn’t just thinking about Harry moving on with a different person. She had told him she just wanted to be friends. It wasn’t right of her to think he was going to wait for her forever. It was the fact that he was going to move on with Abigael. 

“Hey! How’d it go last night?” Maggie said, running into the kitchen. “Tell me everything. I am dying to know.”

“Oh, um, he wasn’t there when I got to the Command Center,” she lied. “I must have missed him. I’ve been thinking, though, and I think I was right originally. It’s just too complicated. Too much unnecessary drama and all that.” She got up and cleared her plate.

“But, Macy?” Maggie said, confused. “You were so sure last night.” 

“And today, I’m not,” Macy snapped, dropping her plate in the sink. She looked at Maggie, who startled at the venom in her sister’s voice. Her shoulders slumped. “Please, Mags, just drop it.” 

“Okay. But if you want to talk about it later, you know I’m always here for you.” Maggie could sense something was off with her sister. She hoped Macy would eventually realize she could confide in her or Mel when she was upset. 

“I know. I just want to go to the Command Center for a little while and do some experiments with the black amber we found last night.” 

Several hours later, Harry woke up and went downstairs to get some food. His head was pounding and his stomach was still doing somersaults. He walked into the kitchen to see Maggie sitting there.

“Hey, Harry!” she said. “Where did you end up last night? I thought you were going to be at the Command Center all night?”

“Oh, um, I was,” he said, starting to brew a cup of tea. “Stayed there all night.” 

“Oh, but Macy said…”

The color drained from Harry’s face. “Macy said what?” There was no way she could have known what happened. She must never find out.

Her brow furrowed. Something wasn’t adding up here. “Nothing. It’s not important.” 

He looked at her, skeptically. “Right, well, I’m going to head back upstairs. I’m not feeling very well today.”

She watched as Harry left the room. She immediately pulled out her phone to text Mel. Something was wrong and they needed to figure out what it was. 

* * *

Macy spent the day in the Command Center. She analyzed the black amber to see what she could determine from its molecular structure. Every time she would start to focus, she looked over at the area where she saw Harry and Abby kissing last night. She needed to hit something. Her anger needed to come out somewhere. She walked upstairs to Jordan’s gym. 

“Hey, Jordan, how’s it going?” she asked nervously. 

“It’s good. Can I help you with something?” he asked, not unkindly. 

“I know my first lesson didn’t go super great…” 

“You mean when you punched me in the face? No, that isn’t what I would classify as a great lesson.”

“Again, I am so incredibly sorry about that. I was wondering if I could schedule some more lessons or even just pay you to use the gym every now and then,” she said, biting her lip. 

He took a moment to study her demeanor. She seemed apprehensive, hurt almost. “Are you and your sisters okay?” he asked seriously. 

She startled slightly, taken aback by his question. “Yeah, why wouldn’t we be?” she said, looking down. 

“Look, Macy. All I really know about you is that you have a helluva right hook. But Maggie’s told me a little bit. She mentioned you moved here to get away from some guy. Then there was that guy last night. I still don’t remember everything that happened there, but he seemed like a really bad dude. I don’t need to know all the details of what’s going on. I just want to be sure you are safe.”

She smiled slightly. “Thank you. We are now. The guy we moved away from is gone. Parker, from last night, he’s gone now, too.” 

“Okay,” he said, nodding. “I know you have that other guy who’s always with you, too, but if you’re in trouble, I can help. If you need anything legalwise, I learned how to write restraining orders for one of my classes. Anything you guys need.”

She tensed up at the mention of Harry. “Yeah, we do have Harry, but thank you. We won’t need a restraining order or anything like that, but we’ll keep it in mind.” 

“And you’re welcome to use the gym whenever. It’s open to all of you. If you need to come in and punch something that’s not my face,” he joked. She laughed nervously. “Or if you just need to talk to someone, the door’s always open.” 

She looked at him strangely. “You barely know us. Why are you being so nice?”

He shrugged and gave her a half-smile. “I don’t really know. There’s just something about your family. You all seem like you could use another friend.” 

“Yeah, we could,” she agreed. “Um, well, thank you, Jordan. Really.” 

She left the gym and decided to head home. She couldn’t stand going back into the Command Center. She just wanted to hide in her room for the rest of the day. If she saw Harry, she knew she would start to scream at him. 

* * *

Maggie and Mel decided they needed to have a family dinner. They needed to figure out what had happened between Harry and Macy. Maggie sent out a text to everyone, saying it had been a while since they all sat down together. Both Harry and Macy sent texts back saying they weren’t up to it tonight. Maggie told them it was non-negotiable. 

That night, everyone sat down to dinner together. “So, how was everyone’s day?” Maggie asked, trying to break the ice.

Harry looked at his plate, pushing the food around. Macy looked off into the distance, her jaw clenched. 

“My day was pretty good,” Mel said. “I spent most of it in the Wicca shop, doing some inventory for Kat.” She looked at her younger sister, her wide eyes darting between her older sister and Whitelighter. The simmering hostility was coming off Macy in waves. Harry was barely paying attention to the conversation. 

“So, Mace, how did the experiments go with the black amber?” Maggie asked hopefully. 

“No progress,” Macy said, her voice thin with tension. It was clear she would not be offering any additional information and she would not welcome questions. 

“So, what do you guys want to do tonight?” Mel asked. “Watching that movie last night made me realize we haven’t had family movie night for a while. Harry, I think it was your turn to pick.”

He finally looked up from his plate, startling at the mention of his name. “What was that?”

“Movie night?” Maggie asked hopefully. “It’s your turn to pick.”

“Oh, right,” he said, looking back down. “I’m not feeling well tonight. I was going to turn in early.” 

The younger sisters looked over at Macy, who was glaring daggers at Harry. “Right, well, maybe another night then,” Mel said. 

They proceeded to eat the rest of the dinner in silence. Maggie and Mel had a conversation with their eyes, trying to figure out what was going on. As soon as dinner was over, Harry and Macy practically ran out of the room. 

“What the fuck happened last night?” Maggie asked Mel. “That wasn’t ‘I want to rip your clothes off’ tension. That was ‘I’m going to stab you in the neck’ tension.” 

“I don’t know. But something happened and neither one of them is going to say anything about it. We’ll just have to be patient and hope one of them tells us. But that level of tension? That can’t keep happening.” 

* * *

For the next week, Harry and Macy continued to avoid each other at all costs. If one of them was in the Command Center, the other was at home and vice versa. Macy went running every morning and ended up in the boxing gym daily. Mel and Maggie continued to be confused by everything. Each had tried to broach the topic with Harry and Macy, but they always got shut down immediately. 

Two weeks after The Incident, Macy was in the gym letting go of her anger. Harry had worn her favorite shirt of his today, his dark blue button-up one. She was so mad at herself that she still wanted him. 

_Punch. Punch._ That was Harry’s stupid face that she still wanted to kiss all the time.

 _Jab. Jab._ Now it was Abigael’s evil smirk as she made out with Harry.

 _Punch. Punch._ She pictured the Darklighter. If it hadn’t been for him, she and Harry would probably be together and happy right now. 

She furiously threw punches, completely forgetting where she was for a moment. The only thing she could think about was feeling her fists make contact with the bag.

“Macy? Hey, Macy?” she heard someone ask.

“What?” she yelled as she turned around.

“Whoa, there,” Jordan said. “I’ve been trying to get your attention for like five minutes now. I’m getting ready to close up for the night. You’ve been going at that bag for 45 minutes.” 

“I have?” she said, trying to catch her breath. She looked out the window and saw that it was dark now. “Oh gosh, I completely lost track of time.”

“It’s okay. You seemed like you really needed it today. More so than all the other days you’ve been in here this week,” he said, trying to joke with her. “Everything good?” 

“I’m fine. Really. Just need to get rid of some tension. It’s not a big deal.” 

“Alright, just be careful when you’re throwing punches like that. Keep your form or else you can really hurt yourself.” 

“Got it. Thanks, Jordan. I’ll get out of your hair for the night.”

“No problem. I’m actually getting ready to meet up with Maggie soon. We’ve been doing some self-defense training. You want to join us?”

She smiled at the offer. Maggie had briefly mentioned she was getting more lessons from Jordan. She knew her sister wasn’t ready to admit it, but Macy could tell there was the beginning of a crush forming there. “No, that’s alright. Now that I stopped moving, my arms are killing me. Maggie said the lessons are going really well, though. You’ve really been there for her since Parker. Thank you.” 

“Ah, it’s not a big deal,” he said, brushing his hand to the side. “Your sister’s a pretty amazing woman. I’m happy to help where I can. Well, night then.” Macy smiled at the idea Maggie’s feelings might not be one-sided.

She walked downstairs, just as Harry was leaving the Command Center. They had been avoiding each other since everything happened. Harry, out of the guilt of his actions. Macy, because she constantly wanted to throttle him. 

“Macy? I didn’t know you were here,” he said. 

“Yeah. I was just up in the gym,” she said, shortly.

“Were you heading home?”

“Yep.” Her lips were pursed as she looked at the floor, anywhere away from his face. 

“I could orb us back home, if you’d like,” he said, hesitantly. 

She thought about how it would feel to have her hand on his arm again. Then she remembered seeing those same arms wrapped around Abigael. “No, thanks. I’d rather walk.” 

“Oh, well, I could accompany you. It’s already rather dark out there.”

“I’ll be fine.”

She turned away from him. Harry had been so caught up in his own guilt that he was completely oblivious to the fact that Macy seemed legitimately angry at him. 

“Macy? Are you okay?” he asked, concerned. 

She sighed. “I’m fine. I just need some time to myself.” She avoided his eyes.

“Okay. I’ll see you at home.” 

She nodded quickly and walked down the sidewalk. 

He got home and found a text from Maggie, asking him to meet her upstairs. He went up to her room and knocked on the door. She was sitting in there with Mel.

“Maggie? What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Come in here and shut the door,” Maggie said. “I don’t want Macy to hear this.”

He did as she asked and sat down on the edge of the bed next to the sisters. “What’s happened?”

“I had another vision. Of the Darklighter. I think he’s still alive.”

“Oh.” He immediately began to worry. What did this mean for Macy? Was he going to come for her again? Harry could not take the thought of losing her again. “What exactly did you see?”

“I saw him on the balcony of what looked like a roadside motel. I couldn’t fully make out the name of the motel, though.” 

“And you’re certain it was him?”

“Fairly certain, yes.”

“Macy cannot know about this,” he said, emphatically. “Not until we know something for sure.”

“Agreed.” Maggie nodded. “Harry, what if it is him? What do we do?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. First, we have to figure out if it is him.” 

* * *

The next morning, Macy was in the Command Center doing more experiments with the black amber. She placed a couple drops under her tongue, took a deep breath, and attempted to move a stuffed animal with her powers. 

“Come on! Come on, you little stuffy!” she said, kicking the stuffed bear across the room.

Harry walked down the stairs and picked up the bear. “Everything okay?” 

“It’s fine. I was just trying to see if the black amber would return my powers. It gave Mel and Maggie their powers, but it’s just giving me a headache,” she sighed. 

“Just be patient,” he said. “You do still have your demon powers, which can be very persuasive.”

“Yeah, you would know all about how persuasive demon powers can be, wouldn’t you?” she scoffed.

Harry looked at her, quizzically. He started to ask her what she meant by that when Maggie came running into the Command Center. “Harry! I found it. I found the motel,” she said, running down the stairs. She stopped in her tracks once she realized Macy was there, too. 

“What motel?” Macy asked.

“Uhhhh…..” Maggie said. 

“What?” Macy looked between the two. Neither of them would meet her eyes. “What is going on?”

“I had a vision of the Darklighter,” Maggie explained. “I think he might still be alive.” 

Macy immediately pulled her arms around her body and hunched her shoulders. “How? I thought you killed him, Harry.”

“I was resurrected after what should have been a fatal blow,” he said. “It stands to reason he should have been granted a similar reprieve.”

“What if it isn’t him?” Macy said, hopefully. “It could be someone in league with him. Maybe the person who released him?” 

“The only way we’ll know for sure is if we go to the motel,” Maggie said.

“No, absolutely not,” Macy said. “I am not going. I cannot have him in my head again.”

“Oh, no way,” Maggie said, shaking her head. “I don’t want you anywhere near him. I meant ‘we’ as in me, Harry, and Mel.” 

“Agreed. You don’t need to be anywhere near that monster,” Harry said. He reached out to touch Macy’s arm, but stopped himself and pulled his hand back. 

Maggie’s phone chimed with a text. “Oh no. Macy, I’m so sorry to ask this of you, especially with the news about the Darklighter. But I’m supposed to lead this tour group today and I will literally lose my job if it doesn’t happen. Can you stand in for me? I have the script and everything ready to go.” 

“Of course,” Macy agreed. It would be good to have something to keep her mind off the possibility of the Darklighter being alive. “Just tell me when and where.” 

* * *

An hour later, Macy went upstairs to start the tour. She saw a group of about a dozen people and walked over to them.

“Good morning, everyone,” she said nervously. This was so not her comfort zone. “I’m Macy and I want to welcome you all to SafeSpace, Seattle’s premier communal workspace.” 

A man who looked to be in his early to mid-40s raised his hand. He looked vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn’t quite place him. 

“Oh, um, there’s already questions, okay,” she said. 

“Yes, I just wanted to know, what makes this the premier communal workspace in the city?” he smirked and tilted his head to the side. 

“That is an excellent question. I would be happy to go over that answer as we proceed with our tour.” She looked down at the script notes and started to go over the basics. She looked up and saw the man had his hand raised again. She took a deep breath. “Yes, another question?” 

“Just a couple of them. What is the wi-fi speed in the building? Have they analyzed the acoustics here? And what is your vision, visionary?” 

As he threw questions at her, Macy felt the walls closing in. As soon as he asked what her vision was, she snapped. “Enough. Okay. I am...I’m a work in progress.” She looked at the other tour group members who stood there awkwardly. “Can I offer anyone some kombucha? Because we have that here. Just one of the many perks for our members.” 

The group disbanded and Macy quickly ran away. Swan came over and asked for her help in setting up some chairs for that afternoon’s guest speaker. Macy wanted to go hide out in the Command Center and never come back upstairs, but she had to keep covering for Maggie today. 

“Wow, that’s a lot of chairs to set up,” Macy said. “The guest speaker must be someone pretty big.” 

“You don’t know?” Swan said, astonished. “It’s Julian Shea. He’s the new majority investor in SafeSpace. He’s right over there.” 

Swan pointed at the man who had been asking so many questions on the tour. “Oh, fuck,” Macy muttered to herself.

Julian looked up in Macy’s direction and walked over to her. She took a deep breath and started to apologize. “Mr. Shea, I am so deeply sorry for the way I spoke earlier. I’m not normally a tour guide. I’m just filling in today. I’m a scientist. Or I was a scientist. I’m just going to stop talking now.”

He smiled warmly. “It’s fine. There is no apology needed. I was trying to rattle you. I like to pressure test the corporate party line whenever I go somewhere new. Remind me, what was your name?”

“Oh, um, I’m Macy. Macy...Flores,” she said, coming up with a new last name to cover her identity. 

“It’s very nice to meet you, Macy,” he said, putting his hand out for her to shake. He smiled and maybe held on to her hand for a moment too long. His eyes traveled along her body, not in a leering way. It was more as if he was analyzing her. “You mentioned you were a scientist? I’d love to chat with you more about your research. I’ve got to go get ready for this speech, though. Will you be here for it?” 

“Yeah,” she smiled back at him. “I’ll stick around for it.” 

He walked away and she smiled to herself. He seemed at least a little bit interested in her, based on the way he looked into her eyes and smiled at her. 

For just a moment, she felt normal again. An attractive man wanted to talk to her about science. He maybe wanted to flirt with her a little bit. He didn’t know she had recently been kidnapped. He didn’t know she was a half-witch, half-demon. It had been so long since she felt anything close to normal. 

She thought back to where she was this time two years ago. She was finishing her PhD with a promising career in front of her. Then she ended up in Hilltowne and everything had started to go up in smoke. 

As soon as she found out she was a witch, it was like her whole life had been derailed. All of her focus had to be on saving the world. It wasn’t even something she could do now, since her powers weren’t working. She went from being an accomplished scientist to an unemployed, powerless witch who passed out free kombucha. She shook her head, unable to believe how far she had fallen. 

She sat there and wallowed in her misery for a few more minutes. Everyone took their seats as Julian’s speech began. 

“Good evening, idiots,” he started. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you expect me to call you ‘visionaries’?” 

She laughed at his abrasive opening. As he started to talk about what he had accomplished in terms of malaria control and scientific research, she found herself completely taken in by his charm. He had an easy way about him that made her feel like she could talk to him. She hadn’t felt that in months, not since everything had started with Harry. She noticed him making eye contact with her and smiling. 

“I’m going to do something really idiotic,” he said. “Getting ahead of an impending global food crisis by building urban farmland underground. Yes. It’s a controversial idea. But climate change is ravaging global agriculture. We need to figure out how we can grow food where climate is irrelevant. So, with state-of-the-art UV and hydroponic technology, we can transform subterranean Seattle into a new, locally-sourced and sustainable Eden.”

Her eyes got wide. She had so many questions about his research methods and how the project would come about. 

“The pilot program will be right here, at SafeSpace Seattle,” he concluded. “In just a few weeks, we will start excavation right below all of your feet.” 

Her brain caught up to her as she realized he was about to dig up the Command Center. She started panicking. He couldn’t do this. At least not right here. As Macy started to pace back and forth, trying to figure out how to stop this, Julian approached her.

“Hey, you stayed,” he smiled. 

“Of course,” she said. “I was intrigued. I would love to hear more about your underground hydroponic plans. Do you have a while?” 

He winced as his phone chimed. “I am actually really late for this meeting. I definitely would love to talk with you more, though. What are you doing later tonight? Can I take you to dinner?”

“Oh, um, yeah, dinner sounds great,” she said. 

He handed her his phone to put in her contact information and immediately sent her a text. “I’m looking forward to it. I’ll text you in a little while?”

“Absolutely,” she smiled at him. Even though she knew she was going to have to do something to deter this project from happening, she let herself enjoy the fact she was about to have a magic-free, drama-free night where she could pretend to be someone else. Someone with less baggage. 

* * *

Macy walked home and found her sisters in the living room. “We have a serious problem,” she said, stopping as she saw a man sitting on the couch. She looked at her sisters with a questioning look. 

“Macy, this is our dad, Ray,” Maggie said. “Ray, this is our sister, Macy.”

“It’s lovely to meet you,” he said. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Yeah, you too,” Macy said, completely caught off guard. “Um, it sounds like we’ve all had an eventful night. I’m going to go to the kitchen now. Let you have some time with your dad, who is apparently not dead.” She walked into the kitchen, shaking her head. She didn’t notice Harry sitting at the table. 

“Macy,” he said. “There you are. Where have you been?”

“I was at SafeSpace. I had that tour thing for Maggie,” she said, pulling out materials to brew a potion. 

“I thought that was over hours ago.”

“It was. Julian Shea was a guest speaker, so I stuck around to hear him. He’s this bigwig philanthropist scientist, who is trying to solve world hunger. And it’s a good thing I did because he’s planning to build an underground hydroponic garden that will involve excavating the ground underneath SafeSpace.” 

“But...that’s where the Command Center is. Macy, this cannot happen. We have to do something.”

Macy stopped, annoyed with him. “Yes, Harry. I’m aware of that. I have a plan figured out already. I just need to brew this influencer potion.”

“Do you need some help?” he asked, hopefully. 

She wanted him to just leave her alone. Even having him this close was painful for her. She did need to get this potion brewed quickly, though. She sighed. “Fine. You’re faster with potions than I am, anyway.” 

He tried to hide his smile. The further he got from the incident with Abigael, the more he missed being around Macy. Over the past few days, he noticed that her annoyance with him was bordering on outright hostility. He tried to figure out what had happened. There was no way she could know about Abby. He had never told anyone and Abby hadn’t been around since that night. She had called him a couple of times, but he rejected every call. For now, he would just focus on brewing this potion for Macy.

“So, what is your plan? How are you going to get him to drink this?”

She looked down at the counter. “He invited me out to dinner tonight.” Her phone chimed with a text, which she quickly read. “I’m meeting him in an hour and a half.”

Harry noticed her eyes briefly lit up when she received the text message. His heart sank. “Oh, um, how did that come about?” 

“He was in the tour group I was leading and was asking a bunch of questions. I kind of snapped at him. We started talking a little bit. Then after his speech, I went to talk to him to find out more about his project, so we can figure out how to stop it. He had to go, but he invited me to grab dinner after his meeting. I figured it was the best opportunity we would have.” 

Harry was crestfallen. This was most Macy had spoken to him in weeks and it was all about another man. “Yes, well, that was some quick thinking on your part.” He focused on finishing the potion. “This just needs to settle for 30 minutes or so and then it’ll be ready to go.”

“Sounds good.” She paused awkwardly. She really wanted to know more about what was going on with Ray, but it hurt for her to be around Harry for this long. Every time she looked at him, she saw him kissing Abby. “I’m going to just go hang out upstairs for a little while. Do some reading to prepare for dinner. Come up with a plan of attack and all that.”

“Of course. Do you need any help?” He wanted to stay near her for just a few moments longer. 

“No, I’ve got it.” 

He nodded as she walked out of the room. He immediately pulled out his phone and looked up information on Julian Shea. He looked at Julian’s picture. He had a slight slimy quality to him, but Harry could see how some people might consider him attractive. He read through articles touting Julian’s philanthropic efforts, his contributions to equality in STEM, and so on. His heart continued to sink into his stomach. If this man was at all interested in Macy, Harry didn’t stand a chance. Not that he deserved it, not after what he did.

“You stole from us!” he heard Mel yell from the living room. He went to the living room to see what had happened. 

“It was after your mother’s funeral. I found a couple artifacts in the attic and I just took them. They were just sitting there collecting dust,” Ray said. 

“What specifically did you take?” Harry asked.

Ray described a circular disc with some intersecting curved lines. It was a perfect match to the talisman used to release the Darklighter from his bottle.

“You fool!” he yelled. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? What else did you take? Show us right now.”

Ray unpacked his bag and showed the other relics he had in his possession..

“Any of these could have a tracker in them,” Mel said. She picked up a cube that rattled when it moved. “Like this one.” She looked at Ray, annoyed. “How can we figure out what’s in here?”

“Well, you’ll need to break it open,” Ray said. 

Harry recited a quick incantation and the cube opened. A small ram’s head figurine fell out. Ray went to grab it. He tried to hand it over to Mel, but it stayed in his hand. He then tried to hand it to Harry, but it ended up back in his hand again.

“I swear, I’m not trying to hold on to it,” Ray said, frustrated. 

Suddenly, the house shook. Maggie ran outside and realized the house was now uncloaked. 

“What did you do?” Maggie yelled as she came back inside. “We’re completely exposed now!” 

“We need to get to the Command Center,” Harry said. “We need to figure out what this figurine is.” 

Mel and Maggie turned to follow Harry. 

“Mags, we can’t leave the house exposed and we can’t take Ray,” Mel said. “Can you stay here with him? Please?” 

Maggie rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine, I’ll be on baby-sitting duty.” 

* * *

As Harry and Mel headed to the Command Center, Macy arrived at dinner with Julian. He was putting on his most charming self, pulling her chair out and everything.

“So, Macy Flores, tell me all about yourself,” he said, taking a sip of his wine.

“Oh, there’s nothing much to tell, really. I’m sure I’m not that interesting,” she said, deflecting attention.

“Nonsense. The most interesting people are the ones who say they aren’t interesting. Where did you grow up? What led you to science?”

“I grew up in Pennsylvania with my dad. My mom left us pretty early on, so it was just the two of us. I went to boarding school in Connecticut and fell in love with science. I just like how every question can be answered. If there isn’t an answer, it just means I haven’t looked hard enough yet.”

“So, you’re still pretty close with your dad then?”

“He actually died a few years ago. I ended up moving to Michigan and found out my mom had two other daughters, so I got to know my sisters. Shortly before I moved there, my mom also died. I never got to meet her. But I’m very close with my sisters,” she smiled, thinking about them. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring the mood down. Less heavy questions now. Um, who is your favorite computer scientist?”

“That’s such a softball, Flores. Ada Lovelace. Hands down.” 

“No, really?” she said, skeptically. 

“Why? Who is yours?”

“Same. It’s just...most guys herald the men. Babbage, Jobs, Gates, all the dudes.”

“I’m not most guys. And Ada had this beautiful vision of how math and art worked hand in hand,” he said, passionately. 

She smiled and took a sip of her wine. “Poetical science.” 

“Exactly.”

“This is so nice,” she sighed. “I haven’t had anyone to talk to about all this in awhile. Neither of my sisters are especially interested in science.”

He smiled and stared into her eyes. “This is nice. It’s almost too easy, though. Let’s up the degree of difficulty here. Let’s talk about religion or politics or something…”

Macy took a deep breath. This was her opening. She had a mission here. “Or your plan to dig underneath Safe Space?”

“What’s controversial about that? You don’t like the idea of an underground garden.”

“No, I love it. I think it’s brilliant,” she said, emphatically. “I just don’t think SafeSpace is the right spot for it. There’s a major aquifer nearby. Excavation could pollute that.”

His eyes narrowed. “I know. My hydrologist did a full site survey.”

She started mentally going through the other points she had researched briefly. “Oh. Well, did you look into the soil? It’s very sandy. You could be putting the whole building in jeopardy.”

“Which is why I consulted a geologist first,” he said slowly. “What’s really your problem?”

“Fine, you got me,” she sighed. “It’s the northwestern salamander. They have a subterranean migration corridor through this neighborhood.”

“Salamanders? Really?”

“I love the little buggers,” she shrugged.

He tilted his head to the side. “You’re very fast at coming up with objections.” 

“Or could it be you just haven’t thought through this whole project yet?”

“Or is that you’re just being contrary?”

“Do you consider everyone contrary who doesn’t agree with you?”

He opened his mouth to respond, but was distracted by a chime on his phone. “Saved by the buzz. I have to take this.” 

As soon as Julian walked away, Macy dropped the influencer potion into his wine. She looked down to see a text from Harry, asking her how things were going. She sent back a quick “fine” as Julian came back to the table.

He sat down, sighed, and dropped his head just a bit. “I’m about to say something that I rarely admit. You were right. That was my project manager. We have not consulted an environmental biologist, so we will be doing that before we proceed with the project.”

She smiled, excited she had remembered to look up wildlife facts. “Oh? Is that going to cause a huge delay?” 

“It’ll be what it is,” he shrugged slightly. “When I do something, I like to do it right. And you have helped to make this project better.”

“Thank you.”

“No, thank you, Macy. This has actually been one of the most honest conversations I’ve had in awhile. I’m really glad I met you today. A toast.” He raised his glass. “To honesty, Ada Lovelace, and the northwestern salamander.”

She looked at his glass. She didn’t want to go through with the influencer potion. Besides, she had managed to delay the project with her salamander stall. The potion wasn’t really necessary any longer. Julian had shown her such kindness tonight. This was the most relaxed she had felt in weeks. She just wanted to live in this other reality where she could go on a date with a charming man. She slammed her glass into his, causing his wine to splash back against him.

“Oh my gosh,” she said, grabbing a napkin. “I am so sorry. I can be so heavy handed sometimes.”

“It’s okay, really.” He motioned to the waiter and asked for some club soda. “So not a big deal.” 

* * *

Harry looked down at his phone to see the one-word response from Macy. He sighed and put his phone down, walking back over to Mel and the Book of Elders. “How’s it going over here?” he asked her. 

“Still trying to find something that resembles the ram’s head,” Mel said. “Why do you keep looking at your phone and sighing?”

“It’s nothing. Macy is out with Julian Shea, trying to save the Command Center. She has hardly sent any updates. I just want to know what’s going on.”

Mel turned away from the Book and looked at Harry. “Well, you two have hardly talked to each other for weeks, so you’re not the only one who wants to know what’s going on.”

He looked away. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Come on, Harry. Ever since Maggie’s almost wedding, you and Macy can’t even be in the same room. Something happened and it’s completely changed everything. What happened that night when Macy came to the Command Center?”

His head jerked up and his eyes went wide with panic. “What do you mean what happened when Macy came to the Command Center? I never saw Macy that night. The last I saw Macy, she was sitting on Maggie’s bed with the two of you.”

“No, Harry, she came here to talk to you,” Mel said, slowly. “The next day, she said that she must have missed you, but her whole demeanor was completely different. Then you said you had been here all night. One or both of you is lying and it doesn’t make sense.”

The blood drained out of his face. “Damn it. No one was ever supposed to find out. She must have found out somehow.”

“Found out what, Harry? What happened?” Mel asked, growing increasingly concerned. 

He sat down. “When I came back here that night, I stopped to get a bottle of scotch. I overheard you and Macy talking in the attic earlier that day. I heard her say how even looking at me made her sick because of the Darklighter. I came back here with the intention of drinking until I passed out. Then someone found me here. I was already so far gone that I didn’t realize who it was until I woke up the next morning in bed with her.”

“Harry? Who?”

“Abigael,” he muttered, looking at the floor, ashamed.

“What the fuck, Harry? Seriously?” She fought the urge to reach out and smack the upside of his head.

“I know, Mel. I know,” he said, putting his head in his hands. “I have never regretted anything so much in my life. I’m not even attracted to her. I just remember wishing that it was Macy standing in front of me and then Abby was kissing me, and I just went with it.”

Mel looked at him and shook her head. She stopped, picking up on something else he had said. “Harry, how much of that conversation did you hear between Macy and me?”

“Not much of it. Just that the sight of me makes her skin crawl and she sometimes feels physically sick. I walked away after that.”

“Jesus Christ, the two of you have the worst timing,” Mel said, running her hands down her face in frustration. “Harry, the rest of that conversation was about how she still wanted you.” 

“Wait? What?” he said, looking up. 

“Yeah, about how despite everything, she still wanted to be with you.”

“And when she was coming here to talk to me…” He didn’t even want to say it. He didn’t want to hear that he had come so close yet again to having her.

“I think that was going to be the general gist of it, yeah.” 

“Fucking hell,” he groaned. “Mel, I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I never wanted her to find out about Abby. I just wanted to pretend it never happened. She’s never going to trust me again.”

“She will. Just give her time and space for now,” Mel said, putting her hand on his shoulder. “And stay far away from Abby. But Harry, I’m rooting for you. Just don’t fuck it up?” 

He laughed softly. “I don’t really know how I could fuck it up bigger than this. Thank you, Mel. Come on, let’s get back to finding out what this figurine is.” 

They went back to looking through the Book of Elders when they came across it. The Stone of Atreus. Mel looked down and saw a text from Maggie that they needed to get home immediately. A monster had come to look for the stone. 

* * *

Upstairs, Macy was helping clean Julian’s shirt. “Low pH to the rescue.”

He leaned on the counter and watched her try to get out the stain. “So, what happened to your career in genetics?” 

“Oh, um, it’s on hold for now. My sisters needed me, so I had to give it up for a while. It’s complicated.”

“That doesn’t sound complicated. Family is everything.”

Macy smiled tightly. “Yeah, they are.”

“Your dreams are important, too, though. I’ve only known you for a few hours and I can already tell you’re one of the greats, Macy Flores. So, take care of your sisters. But you know, don’t let this pit stop last forever. The world needs your mind.” 

She looked up at him. “Thank you, Julian. That means a lot.”

“Of course.” He looked down at his shirt. “Somehow, this actually looks worse than it did before. 

Macy laughed loudly. Harry and Mel stood across the room and watched her and Julian together.

Mel looked at Harry, as he smiled wistfully. “I haven’t heard her laugh like that in ages. God, how I’ve missed that sound.” 

“Don’t give up hope, Harry,” Mel told him. She sent Macy a text saying that they needed her help at home. 

Macy’s phone chimed and she looked down. Harry watched as her entire demeanor changed. She pulled her shoulders in and looked like she was preparing for battle. She looked at Julian. “Sadly, I have to cut this short. My sisters need me at home. Family emergency.”

Julian nodded. “Understood. Just one question, before you go?”

“Of course.”

“You are single, right? I have a chance here?”

She smiled. “I am single, yes.” 

“Can I see you again? After all, I’m dying to hear more about the northwestern salamander.” 

She nodded. “I’d like that.” She looked over and saw Mel and Harry waiting for her. “Just text me.” 

“I will do that. Thank you for a very interesting night, Macy.” 

She walked over to her sister and Harry. She wouldn’t meet Harry’s eyes. 

“Success with the Command Center?” Mel asked.

“I bought us some time, yeah,” Macy said. 

“Alright, let’s get home then,” Mel said. 

They walked over to the hallway, so Harry could orb them home. They landed in the entryway and noticed the front door was broken. They heard a sound from above them. 

“The attic,” Mel said. 

The trio ran upstairs and found Maggie and Ray battling two monsters.

“I thought you said there was only one!” Macy said. 

“Apparently, there’s two now,” Mel said. She went to grab something to hit the monster. 

“No!” Maggie yelled. “Whenever you hit it, it splits!” 

The monster moved closer to Ray. As it got closer, Ray seemed to get sucked into the monster’s mouth, as if it were drinking his essence.

“The stone of Atreus!” Harry yelled. “Ray, you have to give it up!” 

“The what?” Ray yelled back.

“The stone! The ram head thing. That’s what it wants. You have to give it up.” 

Ray looked down at the figurine in his hand. He looked at the monster whose mouth was opening widely. Without a second thought, he tossed the stone into the monster’s mouth. The two monsters merged into one and then vanished. The house shook briefly. 

“I think we’re recloaked,” Harry said. “I’m going to go check.” 

Ray pulled Maggie in for a hug. “I’m sorry, Little Bug.” Mel walked over and asked how Maggie was doing.

Macy watched the family for a moment before leaving them to have some time together. The sisters had all bonded over the loss of their mother. Even though Macy never knew her, she felt the shared loss unified them. Macy knew how it felt to lose a parent. Then after Maggie and Mel found out their dad had died, Macy felt even closer to them. Her sisters were all she had left in this world. It was comforting that Macy was all they had left, too. 

Now, though, their dad was back. And even though he wasn’t Maggie’s biological dad, Ray was the only father she had ever known. Macy felt a little more distance grow between her and her sisters. They were still all she had left, but she wasn’t all they had left anymore. That realization hurt her more than she wanted to admit. 

She walked downstairs, wanting to clean up the entryway from the monsters. Harry was down there doing the exact same thing.

“Hey,” he said. “Could you help me with this door?”

Macy nodded and helped him pick it up. 

“At least the house is recloaked now,” he said, wanting to break the awkward silence. 

“Yeah, that’s comforting,” she agreed.

“I’m sorry we interrupted your date,” he said, not meeting her eyes.

“It was just an attempt to save the Command Center.”

“You looked like you were having fun, though,” he said, gently probing for more information. 

“You know what? I was. And maybe it was a date,” she said confidently.

“Are you going to see him again?” he asked, not certain if he wanted to know the answer. 

“I don’t know. Maybe? It was nice to be someone different for the night,” she said, just a little sadly. 

He turned his head to the side, questioningly. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, it was nice to not be a Charmed One for the night,” she said, sighing. “I didn’t have to worry about Darklighters and demons and anything to do with the magical world. I got to talk about science with someone who actually understood what I was saying. I got to just laugh and flirt. And I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again. He asked me out again, but I don’t know if I’m ready for a relationship.”

He nodded sadly and looked into her eyes. “You deserve to be happy, Macy.” 

She looked at him, noticing the slump in his shoulders, the bags under his eyes. “Thanks, Harry.” 

“Well, I’m going to head upstairs for the night. I’ll see you in the morning.” He left her standing in the entryway. He hoped he hadn’t lost his chance with her, but he wasn’t so sure anymore. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'll be back next Sunday with the next chapter.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Curse Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An encounter with Abigael leads to a confrontation between Harry and Macy. Maggie tries to figure out how to break Jordan's curse before his 26th birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone did not see the note I added at the beginning of the last chapter, I wanted to offer a sincere apology for not having the appropriate content warnings at the beginning of chapter ten. Last week was not a great week and I was struggling to even get the chapter posted. In my own mental haze, I was negligent with the content warnings. I apologize to anyone who was triggered by the last chapter. That was not my intention at all. I updated the tags with the content warnings that are appropriate to this story. 
> 
> One other note before I stop rambling and just let you read the dang chapter, I've turned off anonymous comments. I did it on this story a week or so ago. However, I've had to go back and turn it off on all of my stories that I've posted on this site. I've had a couple genuinely nice anonymous comments, which is why I hesitated to turn them off. However, it reached a point where I was getting just about equal amounts of positive and negative comments. So, if you want to tell me how much you hate the story or that it's worse than the show or you now hate all the characters, please just don't. For those of you that have taken the time to leave kind words, thank you so incredibly much. I haven't been doing real great for a while and those comments really do truly help. 
> 
> As with every chapter, a massive thank you to katasstropheee, my phenomenal beta.
> 
> Some dialogue taken from 2x10: Curse Words.

Over the next week, Macy and Julian texted each other every day. Julian sent every picture of salamanders he could find, along with plenty of puns about lizards. She laughed and rolled her eyes at all of them. She sent him her thoughts on a couple of articles about gene splicing she had read recently. She had been dying to talk about those articles with someone, but her sisters and Harry had no interest. Harry used to at least feign interest, but things between them were still so strained. They were hardly talking to each other and she didn’t know when that might change. 

Harry watched as every text she got made her light up with joy. Every ding of her phone felt like a punch to his gut. She hadn’t laughed and smiled so much since they left Hilltowne. He hated that someone else was making her so happy. Then he immediately felt guilty for being mad. All he ever wanted for Macy was happiness. He just selfishly hoped she would find that happiness with him.

When Macy wasn’t flirting with Julian and Harry wasn’t sulking about her new relationship, they were all trying to help Maggie break the curse on Jordan. His 26th birthday was that Friday. Harry and Mel spent hours looking through the Book of Elders for any clues possible. Macy researched everything she could find about Jordan’s lineage to see if there was any hint of a possible solution. 

Maggie panicked the entire week. She spent even more time than usual at Safe Space, hovering nearby in case Jordan needed someone to save him. Her motives weren’t entirely selfless. As they spent more time together, she felt the beginnings of a crush blossoming. She loved his sense of humor, his smile, his kindness. Getting to spend so much time with him was just an added perk to her sincere hope to keep him alive. 

That Friday, everyone gathered at Safe Space for Jordan’s birthday party. The sisters sat at a table together, drinking. Maggie hadn’t taken her eyes off Jordan since they arrived. 

“Mags, you’re going to freak him out if you don’t stop staring,” Mel said. “I don’t think I’ve seen you blink in the past five minutes.” 

“If I blink, I might miss something and that’ll be the thing that kills him,” Maggie retorted. “I will never be able to live with myself if he dies and I could have stopped it.”

“Maybe Jordan did something on his own to break the curse and he didn’t even realize it?” Mel shrugged. “Maybe because he’s already done so much good with his life, the curse decided it didn’t need him after all.”

“I don’t think that’s how curses work,” Maggie said, wrinkling her nose in confusion. “Is it?”

The sisters looked at Macy who was lost in her phone. Mel cleared her throat. 

“Sorry, what?” Macy said, looking up from the phone. 

“Oh, you know. Just trying to keep a good man alive over here,” Maggie said. “You want to help us with that?”

“Sorry, I'm here. I'm focused,” Macy said, putting her phone down. It started to vibrate with an incoming call. “Sorry, I’m just going to take this really quick. Be right back.” She stepped away to walk outside.

“Okay, what is her deal?” Maggie asked. “She’s never been that attached to her phone.”

Mel took a drink and pointedly looked away from Maggie. 

“You know something!” Maggie exclaimed. “We agreed we wouldn’t keep secrets, so spill!”

“I may know why Harry and Macy are so awkward around each other now. And I may know why she is so attached to her phone,” Mel said, shrugging.

“And you haven’t told me, why?”

“Well, dad came back and then you’ve been so stressed about Jordan, I didn’t want to add any more to your plate.”

Maggie glared at her sister. “Mel, we agreed you would start treating me like the grown ass woman I am. Now, tell me. What happened?”

“Macy did see Harry at the Command Center the night after your almost wedding. He was drunk and he was hooking up with someone…” Mel grimaced.

“What? Who? That doesn’t make any sense. Who else does Harry even know here? Unless…” she stopped, her eyes getting wide. “Ew! No!”

Mel nodded. “Yeah, Macy saw them leaving together and then Harry didn’t come home until the next day.”

Maggie groaned. “How could he be that stupid?”

“He feels really bad about it,” Mel explained. “He went back to the Command Center that night to just get drunk by himself and then Abby found him there and he fucked up.”

“So, that explains why Harry’s been so mopey and Macy’s been so angry. But why is she so happy now?”

“You know that guy who just bought Safe Space?” 

Maggie nodded, remembering Swan saying something about it at the last management meeting. “Julian something?”

“Julian Shea,” Mel confirmed. “He has this plan to excavate under Safe Space. There was a whole bunch of science stuff, so I tuned out a lot of it. Basically, Macy went out with him to try and stall his plan, but they ended up hitting it off. They’ve been talking constantly since then.” 

“No!” Maggie hit her hand on the table and yelled. Several heads turned to look at her. She lowered her voice. “Sorry, I mean, no! They aren’t supposed to move on to other people. They’re supposed to be together. Why are they so infuriating?”

Mel sighed. “I know. We just need to be patient. They're going to end up together. I know it.”

Maggie sighed and then froze. She looked up at the neon sign screwed into the wall and had a vision of it coming loose as everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to Jordan. Swan was bringing out the cake now and the lights lowered. Maggie ran towards Jordan and tackled him to the ground just as the neon sign fell into the cake. 

“What the hell?” Jordan asked from the floor.

“Sorry, I saw the sign starting to shake and it was headed right for you,” Maggie said, standing back up. 

“No, you’re fine. Your catlike reflexes just saved my life. Thank you.” He looked over at the cake which was smashed into crumbs. He put his hand on her shoulder and leaned in to her, whispering in her ear, conspiratorially. “I don’t think anything could have saved that cake, though, even before the sign hit it.” 

She laughed, smiling up at him shyly. She looked up and saw Ray sitting over at the bar. She tilted her head to the side, annoyed. “Excuse me for just a moment,” she told Jordan. She looked over to Mel and nodded her head toward the bar.

The sisters walked over to their father. “What are you doing here, Ray?” Mel asked, trying not to draw attention to them. “You’re supposed to still be at the house.”

“I’m very close with whoever’s birthday it is today,” Ray said as he took a sip of his beer. “Whose birthday is it?”

“My friend Jordan and you’ve never met him in your life. What are you really doing here?” Maggie crossed her arms.

“I was going stir crazy at the house and I needed a change of scenery. I’m keeping a low profile,” he said.

“If you’re going that crazy, why don’t you go back on the grid and lead us to your buyers so we can figure out who released the Darklighter then?” Mel asked.

“Because that sounds like an incredibly dangerous plan that will lead to all of us getting killed," he said, smirking.

Mel pursed her lips and looked at him. 

“Oh, fine,” he said, pulling out his phone to text someone. “But this will blow up in our faces. I know it.” His phone immediately chimed with a response. “They can meet us in Reno.”

“Perfect. Tell them we’ll meet them in an hour,” Mel said. 

“We can’t even fly there in an hour,” Ray argued.

Mel just looked at him, waiting for the realization to hit.

“Oh, right, magic. I keep forgetting,” he said, shaking his head. “Fine. But let it be known that I think this is a terrible idea. I’m going to go back to the house and grab stuff to take. I’ll meet you back here in 30 minutes.”

Maggie had tuned out the entire conversation and was focused on Jordan again. Mel waved her hand in front of her sister’s face to get her attention.

“Sorry, what’s happening?” Maggie asked.

“I’m going with Ray to meet up with his buyers. Are you coming?” 

“No, I need to stay here with Jordan. I think if I can just get him to midnight, the curse might be broken. Will you be okay without me?” 

“Yeah, it’ll just be me and Ray then.” She sighed. “Lovely. I’ll catch you later.” 

* * *

Macy stood outside on the phone with Julian. “Hey, you,” he said. “I was tired of texting. I wanted to hear your voice again. What are you doing tonight?”

“I am at a birthday party for a friend,” she smiled as she spoke with him. 

“Do you have plans afterwards?” he asked, hopefully. 

“I don’t know how late I’ll be here. I was just going to go home.” 

“Or instead, you could come by my place. I’ll make us a midnight snack. I make a mean brownie. Spoiler: it’s the Betty Crocker red box special," he joked. 

She laughed. “I don’t know. It might be super late.”

Harry walked into the courtyard and heard Macy’s laugh ring out. He looked over and saw her on the phone. Based on her smile, she must have been talking to Julian again. The past several days had been a marathon of watching her drift away from him and straight into Julian’s arms. It had been weeks since they spent any meaningful time together and he missed her so much. He wanted to sit at home and sulk alone in the attic as he had been most nights, but Maggie wanted their help with Jordan, so he was begrudgingly here for the evening. 

She looked up and saw Harry. “Hey, I gotta go, but I’ll text you later, okay?” She hung up the phone.

“You don’t need to stop on my account. How is Julian today?” he said with thinly veiled anger. He wasn’t proud of himself for his response. He knew she didn’t deserve this. Tonight, though, the jealousy overtook him. 

“Staying away from the Command Center for now, so you know, mission accomplished,” she said, annoyed by the ire in Harry’s voice. 

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re just worried about the Command Center,” he muttered under his breath. 

She started to say something, but stopped as she heard a voice yell for Harry. She looked up and saw Abigael stumbling toward him.

“What the…” Harry said, catching Abby as she fell into his arms.

“Help me. I think I’ve been poisoned,” she said just as she fainted. 

He looked up at Macy, who stood there with crossed arms, rolling her eyes. He reached out to try and heal Abby. She regained consciousness, but the impact of the poison didn’t lessen.

“So, who would possibly want you dead?” Macy asked, with disinterested hostility. “I mean, besides me.” She smirked at her. 

“Not helping,” he said under his breath. “This looks to me like a hellebore venom. The only known antidote is a lavender witch hazel injection.”

Abby looked at him and smiled. “I thought the same thing. I have everything I need for that back at my apartment.”

“Then why are you even here?” Macy asked. 

“Because I’m having a slight bit of trouble putting it together myself,” Abby sneered. “I thought perhaps Harold could lend his potion expertise.”

“And your phone was broken?” she asked, moving closer to Abby. 

“I wasn’t quite thinking clearly. Poison will do that to a person.” 

Macy raised her hand and pursed her lips as if she were about to start yelling at her. Harry stood in front of her and motioned for her to step away with him. “Look, we need Abby alive as the Demon Overlord,” he said. 

“She stole that title by manipulating us to get rid of Parker!” 

“She also saved Maggie and no witches have been killed since she took the throne,” he said softly, not wanting Abby to hear their conversation. “I know you don’t trust her, Macy. I don’t trust her, either. We need to keep her safe and close, though. The alternative is much worse for us. The alternative is someone who will certainly want to kill the Charmed Ones. At least with Abby, we have a bit of leverage. Will you please go with me and help me make this antidote?”

She scoffed. “I don’t really want to see how close you want to keep Abigael. Besides, Maggie needs my help with Jordan.” She started to walk away.

He reached out and grabbed her arm. She instinctively tensed and he pulled it away as if he had been burned. “I’m sorry. Please, Macy. I don’t want to spend any more time over there than is absolutely necessary. I need you to be my buffer. Maggie has everything under control with Jordan.” 

She glared at him. He gave her that pleading look she could never refuse. “I hate this so much, but fine.” She sent a quick text to her sisters letting her know Harry had an emergency and she needed to help him. 

They walked over to Abigael and Harry orbed them back to her apartment. He helped her lie down on the couch. 

“Harry, why don’t you go make her a cup of tea?” Macy said, glaring at the witch. “I want to have a chat with her. See if I can get some information.”

He hesitantly looked between the two women, afraid that one or both of them would end up dead by the end of their conversation. “Fine. I’ll also start gathering the stuff for the injection.” He walked out of the room.

“What’s your game here, Abby?” she said, crossing her arms and glaring at her.

“No game. I was poisoned and I knew Harry would help me,” Abby said, false innocence dripping off of every word.

“You’re manipulating him. Why?” Macy said, moving closer to her. 

“I’m not manipulating him! I just knew that he would help me if I needed it. He’s a good man like that.”

“Exactly. He’s a good man and I’m not going to let you ruin him,” Macy said, fixing her with a cold stare. “I just can’t figure out your agenda here.” She shook her head, confused. 

“Have you ever considered that I just like him?" she said, softly. "Surely, you of all people would understand that. You know how incredibly sexy he is, in that boy next door type of way.” Abby threw up her hands in frustration. “Maybe I like the fact that he’s dependable and caring. Besides, you don’t seem to want him, so why shouldn’t I go for it?”

Harry cleared his throat as he walked back into the room. “Macy, could I have a moment alone with Abby?” He needed to clear the air here and shut this down once and for all. 

“Fine, could I use the bathroom?” Macy asked. She wanted a chance to go investigate on her own. Something wasn’t adding up here and she needed to figure out what it was.

“What’s mine is yours and all that nonsense,” Abby said, looking to the side, embarrassed. She hadn’t wanted Harry to overhear her. “It’s upstairs.”

He handed her the tea and sat down next to her. “Abigael…”

“No, before you start, let me talk. Maybe I didn’t mean for you to hear that, but I’m not sorry you did. Harry, I care for you a great deal. And I think you like me, too,” she sat up and grabbed his hands.

He took her hands and put them back on her lap before letting go. “Abigael, what happened between us never should have happened. I never meant to sleep with you. I was drunk and mad and it was a moment of weakness.”

Abby cocked her head to the side, confused. “What-”

“But it happened and it’s over,” he said, not looking up to meet her eyes. “You’re a very attractive woman and you know that, but I do not have those feelings for you. This needs to stop. I’ll help you make the antidote, but that’s it, Abby. After this, our relationship is strictly professional. Nothing more than that.” 

“Harry…” she started.

“Harry? Can you please come here for a moment?” Macy yelled from the other room. 

He immediately got up to go see what Macy needed. She stood there holding a syringe filled with a lavender witch hazel injection. She looked annoyed.

“What is that?” he asked, confused.

“She already has the injection ready to go,” she whispered angrily. “I would bet you anything she poisoned herself.”

“But that’s insane. Why would she do that?” he asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

“Because you can’t resist a damsel in distress? Because she wants to fuck you again? I don’t know!” She waved her hands around in frustration, steadily getting louder. 

His eyebrows raised at her anger. “Look, we’re not doing this now. Just stay here. I will be right back and then we will leave.” He grabbed the syringe and walked back into the living room. He set it down on the table in front of Abby and crossed his arms. “Did you poison yourself to get me to come over here?”

She scoffed, not quite able to meet his eyes. “What? No? That’s insane and pathetic.”

He tilted his head to the side and stared at her.

“Okay, fine. You haven’t responded to any of my attempts to contact you since that night and I got desperate.”

He rolled his eyes. “You get that this isn’t okay, right? You can’t do stuff like this and expect anyone to trust you.” 

“I don’t care if people trust me! I just wanted you! You make me want to be a better person!” she stood up, yelling. 

“This is you trying to be better?” He sighed in frustration. “Abby, take the injection. Get some rest. Do not try to poison yourself again to get attention. I will not come again if you do so.” 

Macy walked back into the living room. Harry walked towards her, preparing to leave.

“You think that I’m manipulating you, but at least I’m upfront with my intentions,” Abby said, glaring at the Charmed One. “I don’t keep stringing you along only to never let you get any closer.”

Harry whipped around and glared at Abby with a withering stare. “Stop it. Stop speaking. You have no idea what you are talking about,” he said, in the angriest tone Abby ever heard from him. Even when he was searching for the Darklighter, he hadn’t had that much venom in his voice. 

“She doesn’t want you, Harry! Maybe I’m insane and pathetic for trying so desperately to get your attention, but at least I actually want you,” Abby yelled back.

He shook his head, grabbed Macy’s arm and orbed them back to the house. She stomped into the kitchen. 

“What do you think, Harry? Should we still give her the benefit of the doubt? Or do you finally see what a manipulative bitch she is?” she yelled sarcastically. 

“I’ve always known she was manipulating us, Macy! Despite what you seem to think, I’m not actually that stupid,” he yelled as he followed her to the kitchen. He looked at her sadly. “And besides, she was right about one thing,” he said, his volume dropping to a normal level.

“And what was that?” Macy crossed her arms.

“You don’t want me!” He smacked his hand on the counter, frustration coursing through his veins. He shut his eyes, trying to hold back the hot, angry tears. “You told me you couldn’t be in a relationship right now. And I completely understood that. After everything you went through with the Darklighter, I understood that you needed time to heal. But all it took was one stupid smile from Julian fucking Shea and you ran straight to him. So, just tell me the truth for once, Macy." He looked up at her with the most heartbroken expression she had ever seen. "It’s not that you’re not ready to be in a relationship. It’s just that you don’t want to be in one with me.”

“I’m not in a relationship with Julian,” she said, instantly. There was so much he had said there, but that was the only thing she could easily address. Everything else would have hurt too much. 

“Oh, really,” he scoffed. “Does he know that? Do you know that?” He looked down at the counter, unable to meet her eyes. “I would have waited for you as long as it took until you were ready. Why is it you can be with him?”

She took a moment to collect her thoughts, uncertain how to explain everything she had been feeling. She sighed and looked at Harry. “Because Julian doesn’t look at me like I’m broken.”

He furrowed his brow and tilted his head to the side. “What are you talking about? I don’t look at you like you’re broken.” 

“You do. You and Mel and Maggie all do. Ever since you found me, you’ve looked at me differently.” Macy’s voice softened and cracked slightly. “And it makes me feel broken. You blame yourself for the actions of the Darklighter, even though I don’t. But you have this constant, pitying look and I can see the guilt in your eyes. And then I feel guilty for you being in so much pain. And I can never move past what happened because you keep looking at me like that.” 

He reached out to grab her hand, but stopped himself. “Macy…”

“See? It’s that. You stop yourself from touching me,” she said, frustrated.

“Because you freeze up whenever I have tried to touch you!” he yelled. “I don’t know what to do here, Macy,” he said, a pleading tone in his voice. “I’m trying to respect your boundaries, but they’re changing constantly. Everything I do is wrong and I don’t know how to fix this.” 

“I don’t need you to fix this, Harry,” she said, trying to get him to understand. “I’m not a problem for you to solve. That’s part of the appeal with Julian. He just sees me. He sees an intelligent woman that he maybe even finds a little bit attractive. He doesn’t see a broken, powerless witch who was kidnapped and should be pitied.”

His eyes flashed with anger. “Don’t you dare presume that’s what I see when I look at you, because you could not be further from the truth," he said, in a low growl. 

Her breath caught at the force of his emotion. She shook her head slightly. “And besides, Harry, you’re the one who moved on first,” she said, sadly. “So you can’t be mad at me here.” She went to push past him and leave the room, but he grabbed her wrist tightly. They both looked down at his hand still gripping her wrist, as it was the most sustained contact they had in weeks. 

“And how do you even know that? Why did you come to the Command Center that night, Macy?” he asked, his eyes pleading with her for an honest answer. 

“It doesn’t matter now,” she said, yanking her hand away. 

“It does matter! It fucking matters to me!” he said, desperately. 

“You moved on! As soon as I told you no, you went straight to Abigael. And it would hurt if you went to anybody, but for you to go to her? After everything she has done to us? After she tried to fucking kill me?” Macy put her hands on the counter and looked down. 

“Damn it, Macy!” he said through gritted teeth. “I was drunk that night! I thought she was you!” 

She looked at him with outright anger. “You thought she was me? She’s shorter than me, British, and white, so try again, Harry.” 

“I had an entire bottle of scotch between the time I left the house and when Abby showed up,” he said, trying to get her to understand. “My vision was blurred. All I noticed were her eyes. I wanted it to be you so badly that I just let myself believe it was. I didn’t realize it was her until I woke up there the next morning.” He moved closer to her. 

“Is that supposed to make me feel better? Sorry, I fucked the person you hate the most but it shouldn’t count because I was wasted. Grow the fuck up, Harry,” she said, getting closer to him.

“Why were you there that night?” he asked again. “Why did you come to find me? You had already let me down once. Were you coming to rub salt in the wound or did you have another reason for coming to find me?” He stepped closer to her again.

“Why does it matter?” she whispered, her eyes filled with angry tears as she tried to avoid his stare. 

“Because I am fucking in love with you and it matters to me,” he said, his teeth clenched. “I don’t just have ‘feelings,’ whatever the hell that means. I. Am. In. Love. With. You.” With every word, he moved closer to her until there was virtually no space between them. 

She looked into his eyes. She had never seen him look so intensely at her before. He looked at her with hurt and anger, but the overwhelming emotion she saw was pure want. 

They moved at the exact same time, their mouths meeting in furious ire. She bit his lip so hard it nearly drew blood. He drew his tongue angrily across her lip, demanding entrance. He pushed his hand into her hair, pulling her closer until their bodies were plastered against each other. He walked her backwards until she was pressed against the refrigerator. She ripped his shirt open, buttons flying off and clattering across the kitchen. He opened her shirt and shoved it off her shoulders. Their mouths never detached from each other. Each was afraid if they broke the connection, everything would end. They continued to kiss as if they were drawing oxygen from the other to live. 

Her phone started to ring. He broke away from her at the sound, as if he had been burned. 

“Hello,” she answered, still breathing heavily. “No, I’m fine. My phone was just on the other side of the room and I had to run over to it.” She paused as she listened to the other person. She and Harry never broke eye contact, both still taken aback by the intensity of the moment they had just shared. “Yeah, we’ll be right there.”

“Who was that?” he asked, his voice gravelly. 

“Maggie. A witch possessed Swan and she needs our help with Jordan.” She leaned down to pick up her shirt from the floor. “You probably need to grab a new shirt.” 

“Yeah,” he finally looked away from her, running his hand through his hair. “Yeah, I’ll be right back.”

He walked upstairs to the attic. This couldn’t keep happening. Every time he got close to her, something like this happened. He knew as soon as he went back downstairs, she would say it was a mistake. He couldn’t take this back and forth any longer. This had to be the end. He could only let Macy Vaughn break his heart so many times.

Macy took the opportunity to catch her breath. Whenever Harry kissed her, it affected her. She would go weak in the knees or feel her stomach fluttering, the standard ways one feels when they’re kissing someone they like. This kiss, though, this one felt different. Minutes later, she still felt his lips on hers. It was as if he was trying to consume her. No one had ever kissed her like that. It was addictive. It was as if he was trying to pour his whole being into her. 

During their entire interaction, she didn’t think of the Darklighter once. As much as she had enjoyed flirting with Julian, she didn’t feel the fire for him that she felt for Harry. Maybe Mel was right. If they just communicated, they could make this work. She decided to talk with him after they went to save Jordan. 

He came back into the kitchen. He put his arm out for her and they orbed to the Command Center. Her with renewed hope, him with steely resolve.

* * *

They landed in the Command Center at the top of the stairs. Mel, Maggie, Ray, and Jordan all looked up at them.

“Why are there so many fucking people in here?” Harry yelled as he walked down the stairs. “Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to let more people know about this place?”

Mel and Maggie looked at each other. Harry hadn’t seemed this stressed since Macy was missing.

“First of all, calm the hell down,” Mel said. “Ray got reconnected with his buyers, so we had to come in here to open the portal to Reno. We got a lead on the Darklighter, thank you very much. A tattoo and a license plate.” 

“And the cat’s out of the bag about magic with Jordan,” Maggie said, glaring at Harry for his attitude. “Once a witch possessed Swan’s body and started trying to murder him, I kind of had to explain what was going on. This has been the only spot in all of Safe Space where Swan can’t get to us. So, if you could stop with the glare and just help with this uncrossing ritual, that’d be great.” 

Harry sighed, realizing he had been unfair to his charges. He couldn’t take out his frustrations on them. “Of course, apologies.” He looked over at Ray and Jordan, who were passing a flask back and forth. “Will you two please stay here?” He gave Ray a pointed look. “And no sticky fingers, if you catch my drift.”

“Don’t worry,” Ray grumbled. “I learned my lesson with the first monster that tried to kill me.” 

Maggie turned to Jordan and gave him a hesitant look. “You’ll stay right here? Don’t go anywhere?” 

“Oh, don’t worry,” he agreed, holding his hands up in faux defeat. “That thing out there is way above my weight class. Nah, you’re clearly good to handle this one.” He smiled at Maggie. “Go be your formidable self.” 

“Great,” she smiled back. “I am going to need your ring, though.”

“The ring again, huh?” he chuckled. “No problem. Do whatever you need to do.” 

Ray looked over at Jordan. “So, it’s your birthday, huh?” He took a sip from the flask. “Well, it’ll be a helluva memorable one.” 

* * *

Harry and the Charmed Ones stepped out of the Command Center into the frigid hallway. The windows fogged over and the darkness felt heavy through the corridors. 

“So, what’s the plan?” Macy whispered, looking around frantically.

“We’re doing the uncrossing ritual,” Maggie said confidently. “That thing may look like Swan, but she’s a crazy-ass killer.” 

The others nodded. Harry and Macy continued forward, focused on what lay in front of them. Mel and Maggie followed behind. Mel kept her eyes peeled for anything on their right side, while Maggie focused on the left side. The building stayed eerily silent. 

They walked throughout the lower level, surrounded by the leftover party paraphernalia. They briefly split up, trying to cover as much ground as possible. Mel looked around, thinking she felt something close by. 

Maggie leaned up against the frosted windows. She wiped her arm across it, trying to peer through to the other side. In the reflection, she saw Swan walk up behind her. She turned around quickly as Swan picked her up and threw her across the room. 

The others came running as they heard Maggie scream for help. Swan pinned Maggie to the ground before picking her up and holding her against the bar. 

“Bring Jordan Chase to me now,” Swan growled in a demonic voice. “Before I burn this miserable place to the ground.”

Harry stepped forward to assist, but Maggie caught his eye and shook her head no. This was exactly what she anticipated would happen and she had a plan. 

“You mean like he did,” Maggie said, breathlessly. Swan’s hand was against her neck. It felt cold with death. “The one who set flame to your sisterhood.” 

The others stood there, frozen. Harry and Mel glanced at each other, both fighting their urge to swoop in and rescue the youngest Charmed One. They finally took the tiniest step backwards, letting Maggie know they trusted her to handle this herself. Maggie smiled at them nervously. 

“If you want to become the very thing you hate,” she whispered, looking Swan in the eye. “Then by all means kill me. But if there’s any witch left in you, please, let him go.” Her voice became louder with increased confidence. “He should not pay for the sins of Lawrence Mortimer Chase.” 

At the mention of Jordan’s ancestor, Swan pressed her finger into Maggie’s windpipe. Maggie groaned in discomfort. “He’s a kind and decent man,” she continued. “He is not the same as his ancestors. He has saved people’s lives in battle. He teaches others how to protect themselves. He is loving and he is worth keeping alive, just as you and your fellow witches should have been kept alive. And to help show you what a good man he is, he wants to return this to you.” 

Maggie held out her hand with Jordan’s ring laying on her palm. “My ring,” Swan gasped. She reached out and grabbed it from the young witch’s hand, releasing her from her grasp. Maggie breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at her family. 

Maggie stepped over to join them as Swan placed the ring back on her own finger and smiled. “I’m ready,” she sighed. 

Maggie nodded to her sisters, who came to join hands with her as they repeated the incantation. As the spell took hold of Swan, the spirit of the other witch exploded from her body in a storm of light. The others all flinched backwards, trying to protect their eyes from the glare. Swan’s body fell to the ground as the light materialized into the shape of the former witch. Harry grabbed Swan’s body and moved her over to the couch, where she would be more comfortable. 

The witch stood in front of Maggie. “Thank you,” Maggie said. “For sparing him. And us.”

“I wish I could tell you that it’s over, Margarita Vera. A witch’s curse is not so easily broken,” the witch explained. 

“But how?” Maggie asked. “What does he need to do? He’ll do it.”

“I cannot tell you any more than that,” the witch said as she dissipated. “He must seek out ways to balance the scales of justice.”

Macy and Mel put their hands on Maggie’s shoulders. “You did it, Mags,” Mel said. “You saved Jordan’s life.”

“For now,” Maggie worried. “Now we just have to figure out what the witch means.” 

“If anyone can do it, it’s you,” Macy said. “Now, let’s go back. I’m sure you’ll want to tell Jordan the good news.” 

Harry and the sisters walked back into the Command Center. Jordan looked up at them hopefully. 

“So, how’d it go?” he asked, looking at Maggie. 

“The witch’s spirit is gone. Swan is recovering in the lobby,” she said. 

Jordan ran up the stairs and gathered Maggie in his arms. He spun her around in a circle, holding her tight against his chest and laughing. “Holy shit, Maggie. I can’t believe it actually worked. Thank you. How can I ever repay you for this?” 

“Well, it worked for now,” she said. “Come on, let’s go grab a beer.” 

The two walked into the bar area. Jordan went behind the bar and grabbed two bottles as Maggie sat at the counter.

“Alright, you said for now,” he said as he sat down next to her. “What does that mean?”

“In order to fully break the curse, you have to atone for the sins of your ancestors,” she explained. “She said you have to balance the scales of justice, but she didn’t really explain any further what that means.”

He played with the label on the beer bottle and nodded slowly. “Alright, I can do that. So, if my ancestor killed witches, then I probably have to help save witches?” 

“That would be a good place to start,” she smiled. 

“Fortunately, I know a kickass witch who might be able to help me?” he looked at her out of the corner of his eye with a hesitant smile. 

“Of course,” she said sincerely. “I didn’t work this hard to keep you alive to give up on you now.” 

“Excellent,” he smiled wider. “Now, I have so many questions.”

“Go for it.” 

“Alright, um, where to start.” He tapped his finger on his chin. “Ooh, flying broomsticks?”

“So not a thing,” she laughed.

“Pointy hats?” 

“Only on Halloween.” 

“Water?”

“Great for drinking, not for melting.”

He paused and looked into Maggie’s eyes. His voice dropped lower as he inched slightly closer to her. “What about relationships between witches and humans?”

Her breath caught for a moment. She wanted to give in to her feelings and say it was a perfect idea. As much as she wanted it, though, she wasn’t quite ready. The pain of Parker’s betrayal was still too fresh. “They are very complicated and it rarely works out,” she said, looking down at her beer bottle, needing to break eye contact with him. 

He nodded, realizing that was less about witches in general and more about where Maggie was in terms of feelings. “They can be friends, though, can’t they?”

Maggie smiled softly and nodded. “They can absolutely be friends.” 

He reached out and grabbed her hand. “Seriously, though, I cannot thank you enough. Whatever help you need with anything, I will do it.” Their gazes met, the air heavy between them. 

Swan groaned from the couch and tried to sit up. “Ugh, what happened?” 

Maggie and Jordan looked away from each other. “You had a ton to drink, Swan,” Jordan laughed. “Come on, let me get you home.” He went over and helped her stand up. He looked back over at Maggie. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”

She nodded at him with a slight grin. “Talk to you then.” 

* * *

Down in the Command Center, Ray and Mel stood near the witchboard. He cleared his throat. 

“That license plate from my buyers?” he said. “I’ve got a buddy named ChooChi. He can run the plates and get you pointed in the right direction.”

“Why can’t you do it?” Mel asked, her brow furrowed. Realization hit her and she sighed with disappointment. “This is where you leave again. Well, go ahead, Ray. It’s what you’ve been doing for years.”

“Torito, please,” he sighed.

“No, don’t ‘Torito, please’ me,” she said angrily. “Why can’t you ever stick around? Did you ever want to?”

“I always wanted to stick around,” he said, reaching for her hands. “Back then I couldn’t watch as my wife was in love with another man. And now, you know I gave that black amber to those buyers. They’re going to be after it, which means they’re going to be after me. I need to be far away from you and Maggie. I know the two of you can protect yourselves, but please, let me do this. Let me just be the dad who wants to keep his daughters safe?” he asked, his voice breaking slightly. 

“Fine. I don’t have to like it, though.” She crossed her arms.

“And Torito, please tell Maggie I love her. And to be careful,” he pleaded.

She nodded and gave her dad a hug goodbye, hoping this wouldn’t be the last time she would see him. 

* * *

Macy and Harry stood at the top of the Command Center stairs, the air thick with tension between them. 

“Orb us home?” she asked quietly. He had barely said anything to her since they left the house. While they were focused on helping Maggie, everything was fine. As soon as Maggie and Jordan left, though, the tension between them returned in full force. 

He stood there, lost in thought. He almost forgot Macy was standing next to him. “Oh, yes, of course,” he said, putting out his arm. 

They landed in the kitchen, both thinking of what had happened in there just hours ago. “Harry, we should talk,” she said, reaching out for him.

He shook his head, walking away without looking at her. “No, there’s no need. It was a mistake. We were both upset.”

“What? No,” she said, grabbing his arm to turn him around. “That’s not what I was going to say.” She grasped her hand in his, trying to get him to understand.

“Macy,” he sighed. “I can’t do it anymore. Getting close to you and being pushed away. I just,” his voice broke with emotion. “I need you to let me go. You have a handsome billionaire waiting for you. You should go to him.” He pulled his hand away from hers and walked out of the room.

She looked after him, confused. Hours earlier, he was telling her that he loved her. Now, he was pushing her towards Julian. She realized this must have been how Harry felt all those times she pushed him away. Her heart broke. Her phone buzzed and she saw a text from Julian, asking if she was going to be able to come over.

“Sorry. Party ran long and I’m exhausted. I’m just going to bed,” she typed back to him. 

She went up to her room and laid down in bed. She thought through everything that had happened since last May. Becoming the Source, hearing Harry’s unknown confession of love, losing Galvin, having sex with Harry, pushing him away, getting sent to Seattle, getting closer to Harry again, getting kidnapped, pushing Harry away again, everything with Julian, Harry’s actual confession of love. 

He was right. She couldn’t keep doing this to him or to her. She had to be absolutely certain of her feelings for him before anything else happened. That was a problem for Tomorrow Macy to figure out, though. Tonight, she lay there and let herself be a woman excited about kissing the man she possibly loved. She touched her fingers to her lips gently, trying to imagine the feeling of his mouth heavy against hers. She closed her eyes and felt butterflies exploding in her stomach, as she relived every moment of their kiss. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those of you who are reading and enjoying the story. If you feel so inclined, please leave a comment. 
> 
> I'll be back next Sunday with chapter 12, which may be my favorite chapter of the entire story. I hope everyone has a great week.


	12. Chapter Twelve: Dance Like No One Is Witching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mel and Macy are forced to turn to Abigael for help after a mysterious illness affects Harry. While unconscious, Harry has unusually pleasant dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you so incredibly much for everyone who left such kind words after last week's chapter. To the people who said they look forward to this story every week, you have no idea how much that means to me. I have mainly been a fic reader over the years and I've had many of those stories where I eagerly awaited every chapter. To have someone say that's what this story is to them, it's truly the highest compliment I can imagine. So, thank you for investing your time and energy in this story. 
> 
> There's been a lot of angst recently in this story and that will continue for a bit, but there is also a bit of fluff in this chapter. We're closing in on the "happy ending" part of the "angst with a happy ending" tag. This might be my favorite chapter in the whole story. There are two other chapters still to come that are in close contention for that as well. 
> 
> Italicized segments denote dream sequences. During the second italicized segment, feel free to play this song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKEq8HFDKwU) for full effect. There are links to other things at the end of this chapter, too. 
> 
> As always, a massive thank you to my wonderful beta katasstropheee for her masterful work and mentorship. 
> 
> Some dialogue borrowed from 2x11: Dance Like No One Is Witching.

Macy slept fitfully that night. Every time she started to fall asleep, her mind replayed her earlier argument with Harry. She had to talk to him, but not until she figured out what she was feeling. 

Her mind and her heart were in constant battle. Her mind told her a relationship with Harry was too big of a risk. Their working relationship was too important to jeopardize with something as risky and unpredictable as love. It would create too much turmoil within the family if it ended. Her heart kept reminding her there was always a chance it wouldn’t end. That all she truly wanted was to be his and for him to be hers. Every time she felt like she wanted something more, though, something happened to knock her back to reality. This was too important for her not to know exactly what to say to him. This was Harry. She had to know for certain before anything else happened.

She checked her phone. 7:15 am. She already had a text from Julian. “Good morning, beautiful. I’m going for an early morning hike and I’d love some company. You in?”

She sighed. The first thing she had to do was settle how she felt for Julian. Did she like having someone with shared interests? Yes, she had felt so lonely since leaving Hilltowne. Was she attracted to Julian? Also yes. Was she more attracted to him than Harry? Her mind replayed last night’s kiss again. She didn’t know how she could possibly be more attracted to anyone than she was to Harry. 

She had to make things make sense somehow. She would break everything down into pieces and tackle them one at a time, just like when she would run into problems in the lab. The Julian side of things was going to be less fraught, so she would start there.

“I’d love to join you. Meet me at SafeSpace in 30 minutes?” she texted back. 

She quickly showered and dressed. She thought about Julian as she walked to SafeSpace. Mentally, she began to make a pro and con list about him. 

Pros: He understood science and could talk to her about her interests. He was incredibly handsome. He was kind. He was clearly interested in her. 

Cons: She couldn’t tell him about being a witch. Their whole relationship was built out of her trying to manipulate him. He didn’t even know her real name. He wasn’t Harry.

She was so lost in thought she didn’t realize she was already at SafeSpace. Julian saw her and walked over to her. “It is so good to see you again,” he said, reaching for her hand. “You ready for this? Have you had a chance to climb Mount Si yet?”

“No, but I’m excited. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a good hike.” She loosely held his hand, waiting for some sort of sparks to ignite within her. She tried to hide her frown when she felt nothing. 

“It’s a little bit outside of town and it’s an intense hike, but the view is amazing.” He led her over to his car. 

Harry arrived at SafeSpace just as Macy was leaving with Julian. He heard her laughing at something Julian said and smiled sadly to himself. He loved the sound of her laugh. It had been missing for far too long. If Julian was the one who could bring it back into the world, then so be it.

Harry had barely slept the night before. All he wanted was to go to Macy's room and take back everything he said. He wanted to tell her that he still wanted nothing more than to be hers. That he was wrong and he would continue to wait for her as long as she needed. Watching her smile at Julian, though, made him realize he did the right thing. She deserved to be with someone who made her happy and Julian clearly was the person who could do that. He walked down to the Command Center to meet up with Mel.

* * *

Macy and Julian spent the morning hiking. The cell reception was terrible, so she left her phone in the car. Plus, she wanted to just focus on this time with Julian. In order to figure out her feelings, she needed to have her undivided attention on him. 

They reached the peak and sat down on a boulder to rest. She looked out at the valley beneath them, taken aback by its beauty.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Julian said, taking a swig from his water bottle.

“Yeah, it looks like it’s straight out of a magazine. I can see why you like coming up here so much,” she said, trying to catch her breath.

“My aunt Viv brought me up here for the first time shortly after my parents died,” he said, turning his gaze from her and looking back out on the valley below. “I was so angry and could only see the darkness in the world. I spent weeks sulking. Viv let me have that time. Then one day she woke me up and told me to get downstairs. She told me I had been given a gift by surviving and that I couldn’t waste a second of my life. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to follow that advice.”

“That’s beautiful,” she smiled at him. “How did they die, if you don’t mind me asking?” 

He looked back at her before glancing down and pulling at a loose weed in the rock beneath them. “It was a car crash. It was dark and raining. The driver of the other car lost control and t-boned us. My parents died on impact. I walked away with just a few scratches, but it left a hole in my heart.”

She reached out and grabbed his hand. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” 

He shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant about the level of hurt he had experienced. “I mean, you get it. You’ve had plenty of loss yourself. People think they understand, but no one gets that type of sudden loss until it actually happens.” 

She nodded, wanting to reassure him she understood how he felt. “Yeah, until my dad died, I had no idea it could hurt so much to lose someone. I was so lost after he was gone. I spent weeks just feeling like I was floating. I had no idea what to do.”

He met her eyes and smiled softly. “I can’t even imagine having to go through that alone. My aunt Vivienne basically saved me. She took me in and helped build me back up. You amaze me, Macy.” 

She blushed and looked away. It always made her feel uncomfortable to have people praise her in such a way. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

“No, don’t do that,” he said shaking his head. “Don’t diminish yourself. You have to be one of the strongest people I have ever met.” He paused, putting his hands on his knees as if he were bracing himself for impact. “Look, Macy, I really like you. And I just want to know if we’re on the same page here.” 

She froze. She was supposed to have more time to figure things out before the Julian side of the equation got complicated. She decided to be as honest as she could. Some details would just need to be fudged a little bit. 

“Relationships are tricky for me,” she told him, looking off into the distance. “Shortly after I moved here, this guy started stalking me. And it was messy and terrifying and incredibly traumatic.”

“Oh my god, are you okay?” he asked, moving closer as if he needed to physically check that she was fine. “Please tell me this guy is locked up now.”

“He’s gone, yeah,” she nodded, pulling back just slightly. “Um, but he could be really physical at times. And I’m still recovering from everything that happened. So, I don’t know what page I’m on. I know that I really like you. And I like talking to you and spending time with you. I just don’t know what a relationship looks like for me right now.” 

He nodded, taking in everything she was saying. “Okay. I can work with that.” He looked back out at the valley in front of them. “Are you ready to start the trek back down?” 

She nodded, glad he understood and wasn’t going to pressure her into anything more serious. They started the hike back down. Their conversation on the way down focused more on some of the projects Julian was working on. After the heavy conversation they just had, both were eager to keep the topic light. 

* * *

While Macy and Julian spent their morning and early afternoon hiking, Mel was alerted to a witch in trouble. She and Harry went to assist. A Malignant demon had kidnapped several young witches in some attempt of magical trafficking. They managed to catch him off guard long enough that they were able to get the four witches away from him. 

Harry threw himself in front of the witches at one point and sustained a deep cut across his arm. Mel stabbed the demon in the back, instantly vanquishing it. Harry orbed the girls back to their homes before coming back through the portal with Mel.

“Damn it, Harry!” Mel said, furious. The witches had been kept in chains in a sketchy motel room. She shuddered to think of the horrors they had experienced. “What is the point of having Abigael as the Overlord if this shit keeps happening?”

“The demon world is a big place, Mel. There are always going to be bloodthirsty rogues who act up,” Harry said. He was shaken by the sight just as much as Mel was, but this wasn’t Abigael’s fault. 

“That Malignant was preying on young witches. If we hadn’t shown up…” her voice broke. 

“I know. But Abby has kept the other 99 percent of demons under control. As far as leaders go, you have to admit that’s pretty effective.” 

“Yeah? Tell that to the gaping wound on your arm from the Malignant’s claw.” She gestured towards his injury. 

“Well, that’s not ideal,” he said, looking down at his arm. The scratch was bigger than he remembered. “Can you grab a healing potion for me, please?”

“Already on it,” Mel said, going over to the cabinet. She brought the potion back over to him and poured it along the wound. 

It felt like acid being poured directly into his veins. “Oh, fucking hell!” he screamed. He’d had these potions before and they never hurt that bad. “Oh god.” 

“You good?” she said, worried. He was now pale and sweating. 

He nodded silently with his eyes shut. “Yeah, I just need to catch my breath.”

She watched him as he started to shiver. Small black dots started to pop up along his arms. “Um, Harry, were those there before?”

“Were what there before?” he asked before opening his eyes. He looked down and saw the spots multiplying. “No, they definitely were not there before. I’ll be fine. If I can just get home and rest, I’ll be good as new.” He stood up and immediately fell to the ground. 

She went to pick him up. “Okay, you are clearly not fine.” She helped him over to the couch and laid him down. “There’s got to be something in the Book of Elders. I just need to look through it.” 

She looked at Harry, who was struggling to breathe. Mel began to panic. Maggie had gone with Jordan to New Orleans to follow up on the license plate Ray’s friend ChooChi ran, so she was unavailable for now. 

Macy would know what to do, though. She called Macy’s phone and reached her voicemail. “Hey, Mace, there’s a situation. I need your science brain immediately. Call me the second you get this.” 

“Mel, that’s not the type of help I need right now,” he said, every word a chore to get out. 

“What do you mean?” she asked, madly flipping through the pages. 

“Traditional science isn’t going to help me right now,” he said. “We both know this is demon-based.”

“Macy always knows what to do with stuff like this, though. Once we get hold of her, she’ll come back and everything will be fine.”

“I may not have that much time. She’s with Julian right now, anyway. She may not come,” he grumbled.

“What do you mean she won’t come?” she scoffed. “Of course she’ll come.”

“We fought last night. She may not want to help me,” he said under his breath.

She stopped flipping through the book and stared at him. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard you say and you’ve said a lot of stupid shit over the past couple years,” she said, shocked he would think that. “You are family. No matter what fight you two had, she will come as soon as she knows that you are sick. She loves you. We all do.”

He looked up at the ceiling, wanting to believe Mel was telling him the truth. He was so uncertain of everything lately that he didn’t know what to think. “That may be, but we still need someone who knows more about demon-based infections. There’s only one person we know who can help.”

She realized who he meant. “Harry, no. Come on.” 

He grimaced in pain. “I don’t like it either, but she knows more about demons than you or Macy. And I’m not much help to you right now. Will you please just call her?” 

She sighed, knowing he was right. Abigael was the only person they knew who had the particular knowledge they needed. She sent another quick SOS text to Macy and then called Abby. “Hey, we have a situation. Harry may be dying and I need your help.” 

* * *

Macy and Julian got back to the car after their hike and headed back into Seattle. She pulled her phone out of the glove compartment, only to find the battery had run out.

“Shoot, do you have a charger in here?” Macy asked.

Julian looked in the center console. “No, sorry. I think I took the cord with me the last time I went out of town and forgot to put it back in here. Do you want to come back to my place? I can make us some lunch. I’ve got plenty of chargers there.” 

“Yeah, that’ll work,” she agreed. She had a slight uneasy feeling. She hated being unable to contact her sisters, but she was certain everything would be fine. 

His phone chimed with a text. “Oh hey, my aunt Viv is actually back at my apartment right now. Are you okay with meeting her?”

She smiled. “I’d love to. She sounds amazing.” They listened to NPR and chatted the rest of the way to Julian’s apartment. 

As they walked in, Vivienne stood up to greet Julian. “Hi sweetie,” she said, giving him a hug. “And this must be the famous Macy. You are all Julian talks about these days.” She came over to give Macy a hug as well.

“Oh, wow,” Macy said, not used to such affection from total strangers. “It’s so nice to meet you. Julian has told me so many stories.” 

“All good, I hope,” Vivienne laughed. “Now, come sit down. I want to get to know the woman that has my nephew so bewitched.”

“Vivienne,” Julian said, warningly. “Do not turn this into an interrogation.”

“I would do nothing of the sort,” she said with a devious smile.

“Oh, your phone,” Julian said. “Let me grab that charger for you.” He got up to grab a cord from the kitchen. “So, Viv, I thought you weren’t going to be in town again until next week. What brought you back early?”

“I had another investor who was interested in the Airmid, so I needed to get back for meetings. You know how that goes.” 

“Wait, the Airmid?” Macy said, excitedly. “I read about that in Scientific American. It’s supposed to do everything that Theranos promised but even faster.”

Vivienne gave her a strange look. “Yes, well, the difference is my machine actually works, unlike Theranos. The AirMid can run a complete DNA sequencing test in an hour.”

Julian walked back into the room and handed Macy the charger. “Macy has a PhD in genetics from Columbia.” 

“That’s astounding,” Macy said, astonished at the possibilities of the technology. She had so many questions. “That would take three weeks with any other technology. How is it even possible?” She plugged her phone in to the outlet next to her chair before turning her attention back to Vivienne.

“Well, I can’t give away all of my secrets, but basically, we programmed it so that…” 

As it came back to life, Macy’s phone began vibrating and chiming with the notifications for the missed calls and texts. “I’m sorry. Let me just check this.” She looked down and started reading through the messages, every one of them causing her panic to rise further. “Oh my god, I am so sorry. I have to leave.” She stood up and grabbed her jacket. “Vivienne, it was lovely to meet you. Julian, I will call you soon. Promise.”

“Is everything okay?” Julian asked, worriedly.

“Just a family emergency,” she said. Mel’s texts had become increasingly constant and frantic. “My sister needs me. Thank you for this morning. Seriously.”

She ran out of the apartment and immediately headed for SafeSpace. Her legs were rubber after a morning of hiking. Julian had driven her from SafeSpace, so she had to walk back to the Command Center. Her phone died again before she could call an Uber. 

She needed to get to Harry immediately. She made it to the Command Center in record time. She ran through the doors and down the stairs.

“There you are!” Mel yelled, irritated. “Where the hell have you been?”

“I’m so sorry,” Macy said, frantically. “I went for a hike with Julian and I didn’t take my phone because there was no reception. Then my phone died and I didn’t have a charger until I got back to Julian’s apartment. I left as soon as I saw your messages.” 

“Well, at least you had a lovely date this morning,” Abigael said from the other side of the room. “I’m sure that will be a great comfort to Harold.” 

“What the fuck is she doing here?” Macy asked her sister.

“Don’t even start with me. I have been calling you for hours,” Mel said, glaring at her older sister. “Harry’s fever and spots started after he got attacked by a demon. He asked me to call her. She has more knowledge of demons than either of us do. We need her help.” 

Macy clenched her jaw and glared at Abigael. She knew Mel was right. It could take them days to find anything in the Book of Elders, which Macy still couldn’t even touch. She walked over to Harry. He was clammy and covered in black spots. She leaned down and gently touched his face. He looked miserable. “Do you know what’s wrong with him?” she asked softly.

“Some Malignants carry a certain kind of parasite, which could have gotten into Harry’s bloodstream,” Abigael explained. 

“How do you treat it?” she asked, still focused on Harry.

“I have all the ingredients for the antidote at my apartment.”

Macy scoffed. “Oh, I bet you do.”

Abigael rolled her eyes. “Look, I know we can’t stand each other. But I’m not here for you. Harry is dying. I would never do anything to hurt him.”

Macy finally looked over at Abigael. She would never trust her, but she could not lose Harry. “How does the antidote work?” 

“It’ll bind to and destroy the parasitic cells in Harry’s blood.”

“Is it safe?”

Abigael hesitated. “It is safe as long as he has that particular parasite. If he doesn’t have that parasite, it will kill him.”

Macy’s mouth dropped open. “You cannot be serious. What if you’re wrong?”

“I would never offer this antidote unless I was certain he had this specific parasite. I've seen this parasite before and all of Harry's symptoms fit with it.”

“We can’t take that risk. No, there has to be something else. Mel, you said he got scratched by a claw. This could be a virus. We just...we need to rule out a virus first. Let me draw some blood.” She stood up and walked over to the cabinet where she kept her medical supplies. 

Abigael reached out and put her hand on Macy’s arm. “Macy, if he has this parasite and I am fairly certain he does, I have seen people die from it within 24 hours. I know you don’t trust me, but you need to.”

“No, absolutely not,” Macy shook her head, pulling her arm back from Abigael’s reach. 

“Stop being so stubborn!” Abigael yelled.

“Stop being so reckless!” she yelled back. “This is Harry’s life!”

Mel walked over to intervene. She looked at Abigael. “Look, there’s no harm in letting Macy draw some blood to run some tests.” 

“See, I told you…” Macy started.

“I wasn’t done,” Mel interrupted. “You draw the blood, but we need to start working on that antidote as soon as possible. Harry is already several hours into this, so his time may be running out quickly.” Abigael smirked at Macy in triumph. 

“Fine,” Macy said. She grabbed a needle and vial for the blood. She went to sit back down on the couch. She lifted Harry up so his head was resting on her lap. “Harry, honey, I need to get some blood,” she whispered as she grabbed his arm. She took a moment to look down at him. His breathing was getting shallower. He felt hot to the touch. 

“Macy,” he whispered. He felt a slight stick in his arm, but didn’t know what it was. Sleep overtook him. 

* * *

_ Macy stood at the kitchen counter, mixer in hand. Harry walked into the kitchen and put his arms around her from behind, resting his head in the crook of her neck. _

_ “Is that batter for your chocolate cake?” he said, kissing her just below her ear. He reached out and tried to grab a swipe of it from the edge of the bowl. _

_ She laughed and smacked his hand. “Yes, it is. And if you want to have a birthday cake tonight, then you can’t have all the batter now.” She put down the mixer and turned around in his arms, leaning in to kiss him. _

_ “You know you don’t need to make a big deal,” he said. _

_ “Well, you know how Maggie is with family birthdays. There will be a party. Gifts, hats, games. The whole shebang. And that includes cake.” _

_ “Ah yes, but I’m not technically family, now am I?” he teased.  _

_ She rolled her eyes. “Harry Greenwood, we go through this every year. You are family. You get a family birthday party. And besides, this is the last year you get to use that excuse.”  _

_ He grabbed her hand and kissed her finger just below the diamond ring he had placed there three months earlier. “I suppose you’re right. Just a few more months now.”  _

_ She beamed up at him. “Exactly. So, you will indulge Maggie’s love of parties and smile as we all fawn over you tonight. You will enjoy the present I give you in front of everyone.” She leaned in and placed her lips against his ear. “And then you’ll really enjoy unwrapping the present I give you later tonight when we’re alone.”  _

_ He let out a soft moan at the thought. “Why must you torture me so, woman? Now that’s all I’ll be thinking of tonight.”  _

_ “That’s the point,” she whispered against his lips before kissing him deeply. She pulled away. “Now go, I need to finish making your cake.” _

_ “And I need to go take a cold shower,” he muttered. She laughed as he left the room.  _

* * *

Macy looked at Harry’s blood under the microscope. She had never seen blood react the way that his was currently acting. 

“So, science queen, have you figured out that this is a demon parasite and we can move on to the antidote now?” Abigael snarked.

“Harry’s blood is highly inflamed,” she said, shaking her head in confusion. “His white cell count is soaring. This is a huge immune response.” 

Mel sat on the couch next to Harry. He was steadily getting paler. “Do you know what’s causing it? I don’t know how much longer he has, Mace.” 

“Yes, it’s a Malignant parasite,” Abigael said, frustrated. “How much longer are you going to make him suffer?”

“Or you could be wrong and your ‘cure’ would kill him,” Macy yelled at her. “I don’t know for certain. I need to know what antigens and antibodies are in there. I need to know the genetic makeup of what’s in there.” She wrung her hands together in worry. “I would have just used the Hilltowne lab before, but I don’t have access to that.”

“He is dying right now,” Abigael argued. “Right in front of our eyes. He is in agony right now.”

“Do you think I don’t know that?” Macy exploded. “But if you’re wrong, we lose Harry.  _ I _ lose Harry. There is no second chance there. I will not lose him. Do you understand me? I cannot lose him.”

Abigael stared at Macy, finally realizing she was just as in love with him as he was with her. “I get that you’re scared. But Macy, you will lose him if he doesn’t get this antidote soon. And that will not be my fault.” 

Mel looked at her sister, who was on the verge of completely falling apart. “Look, there has to be another way to get the equipment you need,” she said, trying to distract her. 

Macy sighed. There was only one person she knew who could help her. She pulled out her phone and called him. “Hey, Julian. I have a massive favor to ask you. My friend is incredibly sick right now and we don’t know what is wrong with him. I think it’s some sort of virus, but I don’t know what kind it is.” She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. “I don’t have access to the lab equipment I need and he’s dying. I wouldn’t ask this if it wasn’t a matter of life and death. Do you think your aunt would let me use the Airmid?” 

“Of course, Macy,” he agreed immediately. “Are you okay? Do you need any help?” 

“I’m fine. I’ve done some basic tests with the equipment I have, but I need to know the antigens and antibodies in this thing. I just don’t know how to help him.” 

“He sounds really important to you,” he said softly.

“The way your aunt Viv saved you after your family died? That’s what Harry did for my sisters and me. We would be lost without him.”

“Say no more. I’ll text Viv right away.” 

“Thank you, Julian. Truly.” She hung up the phone and turned back around to her sister and Abigael. Her phone chimed with a text from Julian saying the Airmid would be arriving within 30 minutes. She sighed with relief. “I’m going to go upstairs and wait for the Airmid.” 

Mel stayed on the couch next to Harry. He was starting to wheeze. Sweat was seeping out of his pores. “Can you get me a wet rag?” she asked Abigael. “I need to cool him down somehow.” 

Abigael shook her head, frustrated. “Of course.” She brought it over and wiped it across Harry’s forehead. “Harry, can you hear us?” she said softly.

“Macy…” he rasped. “Wh-where is she?”

* * *

_ Harry stood in the backyard in his navy blue suit. He and Jordan had finished wrapping the pergola in twinkle lights earlier that day. They were just waiting for the sun to begin setting. Time felt like it was standing still. He adjusted his sleeves and tie for the tenth time.  _

_ “You okay, man?” Jordan asked him. “You’re starting to get a little fidgety.” _

_ “Just anxious for everything to start," he said, smiling nervously. "Why we decided to pick sunset rather than a specific time to start, I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out if I know a spell to make the sun set faster.” _

_ “You picked it because the pictures are going to look amazing,” Swan said, snapping a few pictures of the groom and Jordan. “Now, just relax. It’ll be here before you know it.”  _

_ Within twenty minutes, Swan and Maggie declared the light good enough for the wedding pictures. Swan went into the house to grab some more pictures of the sisters. Jordan grabbed his guitar and seat near the front. He began to play softly.  _

_ As the Best Woman, Mel walked out first in a more tailored version of Harry’s navy suit. She got to the altar and gave him a quick hug, smiling at him affectionately.  _

_ Maggie followed as maid of honor in a floor-length, olive green gown. She winked at Harry as she got to the end of the aisle. “Just wait, big bro, she looks amazing,” she whispered.  _

_ Maggie and Mel moved to the head of the altar, as they would be pulling double duty as co-officiants.  _

_ Macy stepped into the doorway and Harry felt his heart stop beating. Her hair was pulled back from her face with her curls cascading down her back. Her ivory dress sat off her shoulders. The gown was made almost entirely of lace with a scalloped hemline that was shorter in the front. She carried a simple bouquet of white and pale pink roses. As soon as she locked eyes with Harry, she started to walk just a little bit faster, eager to get to him as soon as possible.  _

_ She reached the end of the aisle, and it took all of Harry’s strength not to immediately pull her into a kiss.  _

_ Jordan moved over next to Ray, the only other wedding guest.  _

_ “We are gathered here today to celebrate the joining of two of the loveliest people in the world, my big sister Macy and my soon-to-be big brother-in-law Harry,” Mel began. “Now, we all know that marriage began as a patriarchal institution to control women. We no longer ask who gives away this woman. We celebrate the fact that Macy is here of her own free will. Today, we merely ask who supports Macy in her choice to join her life with Harry.” _

_ “With enthusiastic support, Mel and I are here to celebrate Macy’s choice and officially welcome Harry to the family,” Maggie joined. “Everyone knows I have been the captain of the Hacy ship from day one. Their road here has been long and winding, full of bumps and obstacles. But through it all, they have relied on each other. Their relationship is one that has been built on trust, friendship, and most importantly, love.”  _

_ “Harry and Macy have elected to recite their own vows to each other today. Harry, go ahead,” Mel said.  _

_ Macy handed Maggie her bouquet and took Harry’s hands in hers. He took a deep breath, choking back tears.  _

_ “Shakespeare wrote, ‘Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly to your service.’ From the moment I met you, I knew you were special. Whether it’s your brilliant mind or your kind spirit, every part of you has enchanted me. I fell in love with you far before I even realized it or wanted to admit. I promise to spend my life lifting you when you need to be lifted, holding you when you need to be held, and healing you when you need to be healed. I promise to make you laugh when you are stressed, to make your favorite scones whenever you want them, and to remind you every day how utterly extraordinary you are. I adore you, Macy Vaughn.”  _

_ Macy leaned in and quickly kissed Harry.  _

_ “Not yet,” Maggie laughed, quickly wiping tears away from her eyes. _

_ “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” Macy said, her voice thick with emotion. “Harry, I’ve never been good with words and feelings. I was always so afraid of getting hurt that I decided it was easier to keep everyone at arm’s length. And then you came along. You introduced me to this whole magical world that defied scientific explanation. And you were there with your three-piece suits and your amazing scones. You showed me what it meant to love someone with your entire being. You showed me it was okay to be vulnerable because you would always be there for me, no matter how many times I pushed you away. And then I let myself love you back and it was like the world made sense for the first time. I promise to spend my life reminding you how important you are, supporting you when you need it, and loving you with my whole heart. I promise to remind you to rest every now and then, to make your favorite cake every year on your birthday, and to remind you every day how much I adore you. I love you, Harry Greenwood.” _

_ Harry looked over to Mel. “Please tell me this is the part where I get to kiss her.”  _

_ Mel laughed through her tears. “We’re so close. I promise.” She pulled the rings out of her pocket and handed Macy’s ring to Harry. “Harry, do you promise to love Macy with your whole heart, to support her through the good times and bad, and to spend the rest of your days devoted to her?” _

_ “I do,” he said.  _

_ “Then place the ring on Macy’s finger and repeat after me: With this ring, I marry you and bind my life to yours. It is a symbol of my eternal love, my everlasting friendship, and the promise of all my tomorrows,” Mel recited. He repeated after her and slid the platinum band on her finger.  _

_ Mel handed Harry’s ring to Macy.  _

_ “Macy, do you promise to love Harry with your whole heart, to support him through the good times and bad, and to spend the rest of your days devoted to him?” Maggie asked, her voice shaking with unshed tears.  _

_ “I do,” she smiled. _

_ “Then place the ring on Harry’s finger and repeat after me: With this ring, I marry you and bind my life to yours. It is a symbol of my eternal love, my everlasting friendship, and the promise of all my tomorrows,” Maggie recited. Macy repeated after her and slid the platinum band onto his finger.  _

_ “Then with the power vested in me by the state of Washington and a website I found that gave me a certificate to do this, I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Mel said. “You may now k-” _

_ Harry pulled Macy into his arms and dipped her in a kiss. They stood back up and continued to kiss, their mouths opening to each other, oblivious to everyone surrounding them. They stood there a moment with their foreheads pressed together. “We’re married,” she whispered. He laughed softly and kissed her once more.  _

* * *

Macy sat upstairs in the lobby, waiting for the Airmid to arrive. Her leg shook with scared anticipation. Every moment that passed, Harry was one step closer to death. She looked up and saw Vivienne walking in carrying a briefcase.

“Vivienne,” Macy said, standing up. “I didn’t think Julian would send you.” 

“Well, this device is my baby. Do you think just anyone has access to this?” Vivienne said, disdain dripping from her voice.

“No, I know. It’s a huge ask and I wouldn’t ask unless I was desperate,” Macy said, her voice cracking.

“Who are you working for?” 

Macy’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Come on,” Vivienne scoffed. “I couldn’t find any record of a Macy Flores graduating from Columbia. This thing has all been some corporate espionage ruse. Seduce Julian Shea, take all his secrets.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. I am just trying to help my friend.”

“Ah yes, your very close male companion. You’re going to great lengths for him,” she rolled her eyes. 

“He is my family. I would do anything for him.”

“Except take him to the hospital, apparently?” she countered.

“He has no health insurance. He has no job right now. He can’t afford it,” Macy said, getting more desperate. 

“I’m happy to pay for any medical expenses he incurs,” Vivienne shrugged.

“We can’t accept that,” she said, emphatically. 

“Because he’s not really sick?” Vivienne responded, turning to leave.

“Because he doesn’t have time. If he has what I think he has, he has hours, not days. He will die waiting on doctors to confirm this diagnosis,” Macy pleaded.

“Julian is very busy trying to change the world and he doesn’t need any of your distractions,” Vivienne sneered.

“I don’t know what you think of me. And right now, I frankly don’t care. My friend is dying. My best friend. My whole world. Am I wasting this very precious time arguing with you about this machine or can I please borrow it in order to save my friend’s life?” 

“If you need it this badly, I’m guessing you’ll do anything in order to get it.”

“Yes. Anything,” Macy agreed.

“Break it off with Julian then.” Vivienne crossed her arms and stared coldly at Macy. 

“Fine. If that’s what it takes, I’ll do it.” Without hesitation, she stepped to the side and pulled out her phone. She called Julian and only got his voicemail. She really didn’t want to do it this way, but Harry’s life was at stake. “Julian, hi, it’s Macy. Um, I’ve been thinking a lot about our conversation this morning and I think we’re on different pages. You are amazing and so sweet, but I’m just not ready to be in a relationship. I’m sorry, but I don’t think we should see each other anymore. Goodbye.” She hung up the phone and walked back over to Vivienne.

“You’re a woman of your word,” Vivienne said approvingly. “You can use the Airmid for 24 hours.” 

* * *

Mel was downstairs, frantically flipping through the Book of Elders. Surely, there was a spell somewhere in there that could keep Harry alive, buy them a little more time.

“There isn’t going to be anything in there for him,” Abby said, exasperated. “How much longer are we going to wait? I am telling you I know what is causing this illness and I know how to fix it. Why did you even call for my help if you aren’t going to take it?” 

Mel turned around and sighed. “You really care about Harry, don’t you?” 

“Yes,” she said, looking down and to the side. “I may be a bitch, but I do still have feelings. And those feelings are occasionally romantic in nature. And for whatever reason, I have come to care very deeply for Harry, even though I know it always has been and always will be one-sided.”

Mel watched Abby, looking for any hint of manipulation. For the first time since they met, she honestly believed that Abby was telling her the truth. “Okay. I will see if I can help you convince Macy to give Harry the antidote. But just know this, if the antidote fails and Harry dies, the three of us will have no problem vanquishing your ass.” 

“I’m well aware of that,” Abby said. “And if I’m wrong, I would completely understand your actions.”

From the couch, Harry began gasping for breath. He sat up suddenly and doubled over in pain. He looked up at Mel, his eyes glowing red. He lunged forward like an animal preparing to attack its prey. 

Macy walked back into the Command Center with the Airmid. She froze at the sight of Harry attacking her sister. “What is happening?” she yelled.

“We don’t know!” Mel said, running away from him. “His eyes just turned red and now, he’s like this.” 

He continued to circle Mel, trying to find an opening. He looked over and saw a knife sitting on the table. He grabbed it and pounced on her, pinning her to the floor. 

“Abby! Mace!” she called out. “A little help over here.” She reached her hand up and used molecular manipulation to heat the knife and get him to drop it. He reached down and put his hands around her neck, starting to squeeze slowly.

Abby rolled her eyes, knowing this was the next phase of the parasite he had. She began to twirl her hands, creating a ball of energy. “Close your eyes. Stay asleep. You’re less trouble when you don’t make a peep,” she recited and threw the energy blast in Harry’s direction. He fell to the ground next to Mel. 

Mel laid on the ground, still stunned by what had happened. Abby came over to her and put out her hand to help her stand. Macy picked up Harry and moved him back to the couch. 

“Are you ready for that antidote now?” Abby asked. “He’s only going to keep getting worse.” 

“Fine, we’ll start working on the antidote while I’m running the genetic test through the Airmid,” Macy agreed reluctantly. 

“We’ll need to move back to my apartment for that,” Abby said. 

“Let’s go,” Mel said. She opened the portal. Mel and Abby supported Harry’s weight while Macy carried the Airmid. 

The three witches and Harry landed in Abby’s living room. Macy set down the Airmid container on the table and rushed over to help settle Harry on the couch. 

“I’ll start gathering the ingredients,” Abby said, stepping out of the room. 

Macy kneeled down, so her forehead was pressed against Harry’s. She ran her fingers through his hair. “Just hang on, please. We’re going to figure out what’s wrong. I promise.” She pressed a light kiss to his forehead. 

* * *

_ Macy sat in bed, putting lotion on her arms and legs. Harry walked in, laid down next to her, and sighed as he put his arm over his face.  _

_ “What’d it take to get out of there tonight?” she laughed.  _

_ He turned onto his side to face her. “Two bedtime stories, a glass of water apiece, one more trip to the bathroom each, and three checks under the bed for monsters.”  _

_ She laughed and laid down next to him. “You’re nicer than me. I cut them off after two checks under the bed. That’s probably why they prefer bedtime with Daddy.”  _

_ “That’s not it,” he chuckled. “Marie says I do better voices for the stories.” He rolled onto his back.  _

_ “Ah yes, that is true,” she said as she put her arm across his chest and curled into his side. “Now, what do we do when Matthew comes into our room tonight asking to sleep with us?”  _

_ He sighed and looked at the ceiling. “We crush his little heart and send him back to bed all alone because we’re monsters.”  _

_ “No, we tell him he is a big boy and he needs to go back and sleep in his big boy bed because we don’t want our son sleeping in bed with us for the rest of his life,” she responded, rolling her eyes. _

_ “But his little face,” he said, looking down at his wife. “He has your eyes and you know I can’t say no to those.”  _

_ “Well, he has your pout and you know how hard it is for me, so I need you to help me out here,” she said, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. “Besides, once we get to the point where they’re both sleeping in their rooms through the night, we can go back to the good ol’ days of waking each other up for sex in the middle of the night. Remember sex?” _

_ “Ah, yes, I think I remember something about that,” he said, pulling his wife closer. “I might need you to remind me, though.” He gently pushed her onto her back and looked into her eyes. “A refresher course, perhaps?” _

_ She reached up and pushed her hands through his hair. “I think that could be arranged.”  _

_ He leaned down and kissed her along her neck. He pushed down the strap of her nightgown for better access to her collarbone. She sighed softly and ran her hands up his back, pulling his shirt over his head. They took their time kissing and mapping each other’s bodies with their hands.  _

_ From outside, a crack of lightning lit up the room followed by a clap of thunder so loud the windows shook. The parents heard a soft knock at their door. They looked at each other and sighed. He pulled his shirt back on while she adjusted her nightgown. As soon as they saw the crack of lightning, they knew this was coming.  _

_ He walked over and opened the door to his three-year-old son. He crouched down so he was at his eye level. “Matty, you know you need to sleep in your bed.” _

_ Matthew looked up at his dad with tears in his eyes. “But it’s scawy outside. Can I pwease sweep with you and mommy?”  _

_ Macy came over and kneeled down to pull her son into a hug, cradling his head against her bosom and kissing his forehead softly. “Sweetheart, remember what we talked about? The thunder and lightning can’t hurt you. There’s absolutely nothing to be afraid of. It’s just electricity.”  _

_ Another loud clap of thunder roared and Matthew began to cry. Five-year-old Marie came running into the room as well. _

_ “Mommy! Daddy!” Marie said, running into her dad’s arms. _

_ The couple looked at each other. The thunder was getting louder. She nodded at her husband. _

_ “Alright, family sleepover in mommy and daddy’s bed,” Harry said, standing up to walk back to the bed. He pulled back the covers. The children climbed onto the middle of the mattress. Macy turned off the light and helped the children get settled. As soon as Matthew and Marie’s heads hit the pillow, they fell sound asleep.  _

_ Macy and Harry’s eyes connected over the heads of their children. They reached their arms out and clasped their hands together, cradling their babies between them.  _

_ “I love you,” he whispered to his wife. _

_ “Love you more,” she whispered back.  _

* * *

Macy took the sample of Harry’s blood and plugged it into the Airmid. 

“This can’t identify demonic parasites, though,” Mel asked, confused.

“No, but it will tell us the exact biological signature of everything in Harry’s blood. If there is a demonic parasite, he’ll show elevated levels of tetrodotoxin. It’s a rare neurotoxin. I saw it in Parker’s blood when I worked on it in the lab,” Macy explained as she pressed start on the machine.

Mel’s phone chimed with an incoming text. She looked down and read it. “Shit, Maggie’s in trouble. She needs us to come and help her.” 

Macy looked over at Harry. “Does she need both of us?” 

Harry coughed from the couch, seemingly lucid for the first time in hours. “Go and help your sister, please.” 

Macy went over and leaned down next to him again. “Harry, are you sure?”

“Please, go help her. I trust Abby,” he said, looking up as Abby walked back into the room. “Maggie needs you.” 

Macy held his hand and put her face next to his. “Promise me you won’t die,” she whispered. “I can’t lose you.” 

He squeezed her hand. “I promise, love. I’ll be right here when you get back.”

Macy nodded and stood up. She looked over at Abby. “Promise me you will only give him the antidote if the results show tetrodotoxin.”

Abby rolled her eyes. “We’ve made Harry suffer this long. What’s a few more minutes, right?” 

The sisters portaled back to the Command Center to open another portal to New Orleans. As soon as they were out of Abby’s apartment, she turned off the Airmid and finished preparing the antidote for Harry. 

* * *

Mel and Macy portaled into the nightclub and found Maggie amid a group of people who appeared to be drugged. They were swaying back and forth in time with chanting coming from the speakers. Periodically, a loud zap would ring out and a couple of them would fall to the floor.

Maggie motioned for them to come over to her. Jordan was lying on the ground next to her. “I don’t have much time to explain. Basically, they’re using the black amber and the Darklighter’s poison as some cocktail candy thing to raise the dead. The shaman has this staff that is collecting energy from the people in the crowd. Every time he zaps someone, he gets more power to put into the dead person they’ve got up on stage.” 

The older sisters looked at each other, eyes wide. “What do you need us to do?” Macy asked.

“I need to get up to the stage and break the connection between the shaman and the crowd. Stay here and make sure Jordan is okay.” Maggie pulled her baton out of her boot and ran to the stage. 

Maggie stood behind the shaman and called his attention to her. She reached out and slammed her baton into his staff. He turned around and tried to hit her with his weapon. They circled each other for a few moments, slamming their weapons against each other. Finally, she was able to knock the staff from his hands, allowing her to hit him in the head and knock him unconscious. Once he fell to the ground, she picked up the staff and broke it in half over her knee. She looked back over her shoulder and saw the coffin was now empty. She couldn’t worry about that now. Jordan needed her. 

She rushed back over to her sisters and Jordan. He remained unconscious. 

Macy began doing chest compressions to revive him. “This isn’t working,” she said.  She looked down at Maggie’s baton. “Thermoelectrics! I can turn this into a human crash cart. Mel, I need your help. You freeze this end. I’ll heat up the other end. The temperature differential will create an electrical current.”

Mel nodded and focused on freezing the end of the baton while Macy prepared a fireball with her hands. A static shock came from the middle as the ice and fire met. Jordan opened his eyes and gasped for breath. 

“Oh god, what happened?” Jordan said as he woke up. 

“I’ll explain later,” Maggie said, helping him up. 

Macy looked back at her sisters and Jordan. “I have to get back to Harry now.”

Maggie nodded. “I’ll take Jordan home. Go save Harry.”  They reopened the portal and stepped back into the Command Center.

* * *

Macy immediately opened another portal into Abby’s living room and stepped in just as Abby was injecting Harry with a syringe. She looked over to the Airmid, which had been turned off.

“What are you doing?” Macy yelled, rushing over to Harry. 

“I’m saving his damn life,” Abby yelled back. 

“We had a plan!” she yelled as Harry began to convulse.

“No, you had a plan and it was a stupid one that caused Harry unnecessary pain.” Abby looked at Harry with worry. She was certain he had the parasite, but there was also that small doubt in the back of her mind.

He continued to shake until he suddenly stopped. Macy looked down and saw the black spots had all cleared away. He was regaining color in his face. He took a deep breath and looked at her. 

“Harry?” Macy said hesitantly. “How do you feel?”

“Like I got hit by a truck, but fine otherwise,” he said, blinking in confusion. 

“Let’s get you home,” she said, helping him up.

“Just one moment,” he said, turning back to Abby. “Thank you for everything. Truly. I don’t know how I’ll repay you.” 

“Have dinner with me when you’re feeling better,” she asked. “I really need to talk to you about something. Just please, this one time.”

He nodded. “I’ll call you in a couple days.”

He went back over to Macy, who put her arm around him and helped him through a portal home. 

* * *

They got back to the manor. Maggie was sitting in the living room with Jordan. She wanted to keep an eye on him overnight and make sure he was okay after the experience in New Orleans.

“Harry,” Maggie said, coming over to give him a hug. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, honestly,” he said. “I think I just need a good night’s sleep. How are the two of you doing?”

“I’m fine,” she said. “Jordan was the one who took the metaphorical bullet for me. If he hadn’t been willing to eat that candy and get us into the club, we never would have figured out what they were doing with the black amber.”

“But we can talk more about all of that later,” Macy interrupted. “Harry needs to go rest.” 

He looked back at Macy. “Agreed. I want to hear all about what you found out, but my bed is calling for me. Good night, everyone.” He walked upstairs to the attic.

Macy walked into the kitchen and started preparing a cup of tea and some soup to take upstairs.

“Macy?” Mel asked. “Are you okay? Today was intense.”

“I’m fine,” she responded, distracted. “I just want to take Harry a tray. He needs to eat something before he goes to sleep.” She began to frantically pull bowls and spoons out of the cupboard. Her hands shook as she set the dishes down on the counter. 

“Macy, just slow down,” Mel told her. She went to her sister and put her hands over hers. “It’s okay. Harry’s okay.”

“But he almost wasn’t,” she said, choking back tears. “He almost died today.” 

“But he didn’t,” she pulled her older sister in for a hug. “He didn’t. And he’s okay.” 

Macy let her sister wrap her arms around her. She let out a deep sob as she thought of how close she came to losing Harry today. She thought of everything left unsaid between them. She pushed back and shook her head. “I’m fine. I just need to take this to him.” 

She took the tray upstairs and knocked on the attic door. “Come in,” Harry said softly from the other side. 

“Hey,” she said, poking her head in. “I made you some tea and some soup. I thought you could use some food before you went to sleep.”

He smiled. “Thank you. As soon as I laid down, I realized how hungry I was.” 

“I can get you something more than soup if you’d like. A sandwich or there’s some leftover pasta?” 

“No, soup sounds delicious.” He sat up and Macy laid the tray down on his lap. She stood there awkwardly, not wanting to leave him just yet. 

“Harry, you can’t stay up here tonight. You nearly died. You need something more comfortable than this couch.”

He sighed. “Macy, honestly, I’m fine. It’s not a big deal.” 

“Will you please just humor me?” she said, frustrated. 

He pursed his lips and tilted his head to the side, not wanting her to fuss over him. “Well, the couch downstairs is more comfortable, but Jordan is taking that one tonight. So, where would you have me sleep?” 

“Just switch rooms with me tonight,” she shrugged. “You can have my bed and I’ll sleep up here.” 

“Macy, that’s insane,” he said, shaking his head. "I will be fine."

“You almost died today,” she said, looking down at the floor. “You were in agony for hours. And if I had just listened to Abigael from the beginning, you wouldn’t have suffered so much. But I was stubborn and jealous and my own ego got in the way, so will you please just let me take care of you tonight?” She looked at him with pleading eyes. 

He realized she needed this more than he did. “Fine, let’s go.” 

She grabbed his tray of soup and walked downstairs with him. He sat down in her bed and she placed the soup back on his lap. She continued to stand there awkwardly. “Well, I should leave you alone for the night. I’m just going to grab some things and head upstairs.”

“Macy?” he stopped her. “Would you stay with me awhile? At least while I eat?”

She smiled, relieved. “Absolutely.” She pulled her chair over and sat next to him.

“You know I don’t blame you for any of this today, right?” he said, reaching out for her hand. “If the choice were between giving you an antidote that might kill you or checking other hypotheses, I would have done the exact same thing that you did.” 

“You would have already known it was a demon parasite,” she said, sadly. “I was too hesitant. I should have trusted Abigael. A sentence I never thought I would say.” 

“I might have known,” he agreed. “But if I didn’t and your life was at stake, I would have been cautious. I know how terrifying the thought of losing you is.” He looked down at his bowl. “I was so worried when Mel couldn’t get hold of you, that you were just ignoring her attempts to contact you.” 

She sat up, her brows furrowed together. “Why on earth would you think that?” 

“After our fight, I was worried you wouldn’t come if I were in trouble,” he admitted.

“Do you think that little of me?” she asked, hurt. 

“No, but…”

“No, Harry. If the situation were reversed and I were the one in trouble, I never would have thought you would ignore me. And not just because you're my Whitelighter and it's your job to save me. But because no matter what happens between us, you are my family. I would hope I would have proved that to you by now,” she looked down, sadly. 

“I haven’t been a good friend to you lately,” he said, quietly, picking at a loose thread in the comforter. “After everything that happened with the Darklighter, you told me you needed me to be your friend. And I haven’t been doing that. I’ve been acting like a jealous prat.” 

“I pushed you away just as much, so don’t put all the blame on yourself,” she said, trying to reassure him. “But we don’t need to worry about that tonight. You need to get some rest. There’ll be plenty of time for conversations later.” 

He yawned and put his head back against the headboard. “This is a lot more comfortable than the couch in the attic. Thank you. For everything you did today.” 

She smiled softly and nodded. “Of course, Harry. You’ve taken care of me plenty lately. It’s time I returned the favor.” She took his tray and got up to leave. “I’ll see you in the morning.” 

She walked downstairs to see Jordan and Maggie deep in conversation in the living room. His arm was stretched across the back of the couch. She sat with her feet pulled up beneath her, leaning just slightly against him. Their voices were hushed and she didn’t want to interrupt them. Macy smiled as she watched her younger sister kiss Jordan on the cheek. She didn’t know yet what the story was there, but he was a good man and she was rooting for the two of them. 

* * *

The next morning, Macy woke up early to return the Airmid and go to the Command Center. Sleeping upstairs surrounded by Harry’s belongings and smell made her more sure of her feelings for him. She went over to the cafe and grabbed a coffee. She looked up to see Julian walking toward her.

“Breaking up with me over voicemail?” he joked. “Not your finest moment.” 

“I know. I’m so sorry,” she said, looking for a quick exit. “I took the Airmid back to Vivienne, so everything should be fine there.”

Realization dawned on him. “Viv made you break up with me, didn’t she? You wouldn’t be the first relationship where she’s interfered.”

“Julian…” 

“No, make me a deal," he said, stepping closer and grabbing her hand. "You let me handle my aunt and you just handle us.” He leaned in to kiss her softly on the lips. 

From across the room, Harry watched as Macy kissed Julian. He smiled to himself sadly. She had someone that made her happy. He just needed to focus on that. He turned and walked back to the Command Center.

Macy stood and let herself be kissed by Julian. As he pulled back, she kept her eyes shut for just a moment longer. She focused on her heartbeat, which stayed the exact same tempo. There was no weakness in her knees. Her stomach was empty of any butterflies. This was the last piece of the puzzle she needed to answer. 

She sighed. “Julian, the breakup may have been instigated by your aunt, yes. But it was the right decision for me. My life is insane. And I’m still recovering from the stuff that happened with my stalker. I’m in no place to start any sort of a romantic relationship. I can’t offer you anything more than friendship. I understand if that’s not enough for you, but that’s all I’ve got.” 

He nodded sadly. “I can’t say I’m not disappointed. But keeping you as a friend is better than not having you at all, so friends?” He reached his hand out to shake hers.

She smiled and shook his hand. “Friends.” 

“I’ve got to get back to this meeting. I’ll talk to you later?” 

She nodded and watched him walk away. She felt lighter, less stressed. In a different world, Julian Shea would be the perfect man for her. But this world had Harry Greenwood in it and he was the only one she wanted. She smiled to herself and walked back down to the Command Center. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'll be back next Sunday with the next chapter. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! 
> 
> I've added a couple links below for visual reference to some things. I all but had a Pinterest board made for that Hacy dream wedding scene. 
> 
> View from Mount Si: https://seattle.curbed.com/maps/best-seattle-day-hikes-trails
> 
> Macy's engagement ring: https://www.etsy.com/listing/535889905/dna-engagement-ring-geek-engagement-ring?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=dna+engagement+ring&ref=sr_gallery-1-3&frs=1
> 
> Harry's wedding suit: https://tuxedo.menswearhouse.com/blue-suit-calvin-klein-id-5323  
> Note: I couldn't find a visual for Mel's Best Woman suit, but it would have essentially been a tailored version of this.
> 
> Maggie's maid of honor dress (in olive): https://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_charmeuse-and-chiffon-bridesmaid-dress-vw360345_all-bridesmaid-dresses
> 
> Macy's wedding dress: https://www.whistles.com/us/product/rose-wedding-dress-29536.html?ranMID=24794&ranEAID=TnL5HPStwNw&ranSiteID=TnL5HPStwNw-fHCiqrcFpicz5ECqi2Zm.w&utm_source=LS&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=Skimlinks.com
> 
> Macy's bouquet: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/240661173813956595/


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Needs to Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sudden revelation leads Macy to make a rash decision. Harry finds out the truth about his night with Abigael. An interaction with the first Whitelighter leads the Charmed Ones to make the decision to incorporate more joy into their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone had a phenomenal Christmas! For those who don't celebrate, I hope you've had a joyous week. One piece of business before we start: this will be the last weekly update for the duration of the story. In order to get everything posted before season 3 starts and this story is shot all to hell, I will be switching to two chapters a week with the final chapter posting on January 24. Unlike every other multichapter story I have ever started, this one will actually be finished! Be on the lookout for updates every Sunday and Wednesday starting next week. 
> 
> As always, a huge thank you to my amazing beta katasstropheee. If you haven't checked out her latest story, "Careful What You Witch For," please do so. It's truly fantastic and I can't say enough about what a great writer she is. 
> 
> Some dialogue borrowed from episode 2x12: Needs to Know.

Since the black amber revived Mel’s powers, Macy had been obsessed with trying to regain her own powers, as well as the Power of Three. For the third night this week, the sisters stood in the attic, their hands joined together. 

“Restitute potentiam trium,” Macy started.

“Restitute potentiam trium,” Mel and Maggie joined in. A current of electricity started to bubble from Maggie’s hands. The three continued to recite the spell. The electricity spread to Mel’s hands. Macy smiled. This was the closest they had come to anything happening. 

Just as suddenly as it started, though, the light stopped. Macy dropped her sisters’ hands, disappointed. “Damn it,” she whispered. “We were so close.” 

Maggie came over and put her arm around her oldest sister. “It’s going to be okay. We made it further than we have yet. It was progress. Come on, let’s go to SafeSpace and get something to drink.”

Mel nodded. “We just have to take the pressure off. It’s going to be okay.”

Macy nodded, although she did not fully believe her sister. There had to be something wrong. If the problem wasn’t with Mel and it wasn’t with Maggie, that left only one option. She continued to feel discouraged by the lack of progress. 

* * *

A few minutes later, the sisters walked into the bar. Mel walked over to grab drinks. The bartender smiled and walked over to her. “Dark and Stormy, right?” she asked.

Mel tilted her head to the side, confused. She had only ever seen this bartender once before, some night where she and Maggie grabbed drinks after a night watching the Witchboard. There had been nothing special about that interaction, at least not that she could recall. “You remembered my order? That was weeks ago.” 

“It was a unique order. It stood out,” she shrugged, reaching down to grab a glass. 

Mel smiled. “I would love one. And two vodka tonics.”

“Okay, I lied,” the bartender said. “It was you that stood out, not the drink.”

Mel’s eyebrows raised. “Oh, wow.” There was no denying the bartender was attractive. In another world, Mel would possibly have made the first move. The sisters had their no relationship rule for a reason, though. 

The bartender grimaced as she slid the drink to Mel. “Sorry, I have no game and I always come in too direct. I’m Ruby. And you are…?”

“Mel. And it’s fine. Direct is good. I can appreciate direct,” she took a sip of her drink. 

“Then what are you doing tonight? I get off here around 11,” Ruby said, leaning on the counter and looking Mel directly in the eyes. 

Mel looked down. “I can’t tonight. I’m with my sisters.” 

Ruby reached under the counter to grab a cocktail napkin. She pulled a pen out of her apron. “Well, if that changes, give me a call.” 

Mel took the napkin and shyly smiled. “I don’t know that it will change, but I’ll hold on to this.”

“See you around, Stormy,” Ruby winked as she handed the other drinks to the Charmed One. 

Macy and Maggie sat at their normal table. Macy was lost in thought, analyzing everything that could have gone wrong with the spell. Had they been mispronouncing a part of it? Were they not fully in sync? What was the part they were missing? 

Maggie was watching her sister’s interaction with Ruby. Mel sat down and handed the drinks to her sisters. “What was all that?” Maggie asked, teasing her older sister.

“What was all what?” Mel said, folding the napkin and putting in her jacket pocket.

“You and that bartender? There was some intense eye-fucking going on there. Right, Macy?”

Macy was looking off into space. The sisters could practically hear the wheels turning in her head. She looked back at her sisters. “Sorry, what?” 

“We were just talking about how that bartender clearly wants in Mel’s pants,” Maggie teased as she took a drink. “Now, come on. It’s sister time now. No magic talk.” 

“Fine,” Macy reluctantly agreed. She felt like she was close to some sort of breakthrough in figuring out why her powers were still MIA, but she also knew she desperately needed a break. “So, what happened?”

“It’s nothing. Ruby just asked me out tonight, but we have the no relationship rule for a reason,” Mel said. She looked at Macy and smiled. “Or at least we did until someone broke it.”

“What? Me?” Macy said, her brow furrowed. “I’m not in a relationship.” 

Maggie rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, Mace. You are the only one who believes you aren’t in a relationship with Julian.”

Macy’s eyes got wider. She had been so caught up in trying to regain the Power of Three she forgot to tell her sisters. “No, I’m literally not in a relationship. I told Julian I wasn’t interested in being anything more than friends.”

Mel and Maggie looked at each other, confused. 

“When?” Mel asked at the same time Maggie asked “why?”

Macy sighed. “When his aunt agreed to let me use the Airmid, her condition was that I had to break things off with Julian. I did it without a second thought. I talked to him the next day and he said he knew Vivienne had made me break up with him, not that we were ever really dating, to begin with. But then he kissed me and I just...I didn’t feel anything.” She paused and looked off into space for a moment. “It was a nice enough kiss, but there wasn’t any passion to it. It didn’t feel like it should feel.”

Maggie smiled. This was a step in the right direction. “And how should it have felt?” she asked, encouragingly.

Macy thought back to that night in the kitchen with Harry. The want in his eyes. The possessive way he plastered his body against hers. The passion he poured into his kiss. “Like my whole body is exploding. Like if I stopped for even one second, I would die.”

“And you’ve felt that before?” Maggie prompted. 

Macy blushed. “Yes, I have.” 

The youngest sister smiled knowingly. “And who made you feel that way?”

Macy rolled her eyes. “We’re not talking about that right now. We’re focused on Mel and the bartender.”

“No, I don’t think we are,” Mel teased. “Come on, Mace. Just talk to us. Let us in.” 

She sighed and put her face in her hands. “Fine, kissing Harry feels that way and every time I kiss him, that feeling just gets stronger. He kissed me and then when Julian kissed me, well, there was no comparison.”

“Wait...when did Harry kiss you last?” Maggie asked, confused. From the way Macy was talking, it had been recent. 

“The night of Jordan’s birthday party,” Macy admitted softly. “We were fighting, which is basically all we have been doing for weeks. Then he told me he was in love with me and he kissed me.” 

“So, does that mean…” Mel asked, hesitantly. 

Macy shook her head adamantly. “No. Later that night, he said to forget it happened. He said we were both just upset and it shouldn’t have happened.” 

Maggie groaned and threw her head back. “You two are actually going to kill me.” 

“It’s for the best. Look how much drama there has been between us this year. This was everything I was trying to avoid,” Macy shrugged. 

“The drama has only been because you keep pushing each other away. If you two would just talk to each other, the drama would be gone,” Maggie argued. 

“No, it’s been more than that,” Macy assured her. “I’m still trying to figure things out. Until I know what I’m feeling for sure, nothing can happen. It’s not fair to either of us. Or to the two of you.”

Maggie looked at her sister. She knew Macy was in deep denial about her feelings for Harry. She had faith they would get there eventually, though. Her phone buzzed. She looked down at it and smiled.

“What’s got you so smiley?” Mel asked, teasing her slightly.

“Jordan invited me out for karaoke,” Maggie admitted.

“So why don’t you go?” Macy asked.

“Because it’s sister night. And Jordan’s a whole other set of complications.” 

“Do you like him?” Mel asked. 

“Yeah, but after everything that happened with Parker, I’m just not ready for someone new,” Maggie said, spinning her drink in her hands absentmindedly. 

She thought about their night after New Orleans. They sat up talking the whole night about her experiences with magic, his time in the military, their respective romantic backgrounds, and anything and everything else. Maggie hadn’t laughed so much in ages. She felt like she wanted to pursue something with Jordan, but she still felt like she was cheating on Parker by thinking that. “Okay, enough about all our relationships or lack thereof. A toast. To finding happiness together.”

“We may be displaced for now, but at least we have each other,” Mel said. 

Macy’s eyes got wide. “Displacement! One matter displaces another. What…? What if my demon powers are displacing my witch powers?” She grabbed her jacket and stood up. “Omigod, I think I know how to fix this.” She ran off, leaving her sisters to look at each other in confusion.

* * *

Harry took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He was certain this was going to be a mistake. Nothing good could come from going back to see her. She had helped to save his life, though. The least he could do was have dinner with her. He just had to keep his wits about him. No alcohol, no flirting. It would be easy. 

Abigael opened the door and smiled at him. “Harold, I was half convinced you were going to stand me up.” She was dressed to the nines in an incredibly short dress seemingly held together by a series of zippers. 

“I promised I would come over for dinner. I don’t break promises,” Harry responded.

She ushered him in and led him to the dining room. A full gourmet meal was spread out on the table. His eyebrows rose. “You really didn’t have to go to this much trouble,” he said, sitting down. 

“Nonsense. It was a simple cassoulet,” she said, sitting down across from him. “I never get a chance to cook for anyone.” 

“Well, I do love cassoulet. It looks wonderful.”

“Oh, it will be.” She smirked at him. “Now, there’s something I’ve needed to talk to you about for a while, but you kept dodging my calls. It’s about our night together.” 

He sighed. “Abigael, please, can we just have a civil meal together? I--”

She raised her hand to cut him off. “I need to know what you remember from that night.” 

He blushed. “You came on to me in the Command Center. I was very inebriated. We kissed. We came back here. We had sex. I woke up the next morning naked in your bed.”

“So, you remember having sex with me then?” Abigael said, taking a sip from her wine. 

He thought back to the night he had been suppressing for weeks. He remembered their kisses in the Command Center. He remembered lying down in her bed and continuing to make out with her. The feeling of her hands on his body. Taking off each other’s clothes. That’s where his memory ended.

“Well, I remember lying in your bed and kissing you,” he said, embarrassed. “Then I woke up the next morning naked and I just filled in the rest.” He looked at her suspiciously. “Why? What happened?” 

She fidgeted with her wine glass. For the first time since he met her, she seemed nervous. “I didn’t realize you were as intoxicated as you were while we were back at the Command Center. You hold your liquor surprisingly well,” she joked halfheartedly. “We came back here and I had every intention of having sex with you. It seemed like we were on the same page. You were joking and flirting with me. We took things back to my bedroom. I was getting ready to go down on you. Then you grabbed my hair, said her name, and passed out. I covered you up and went to watch a movie in the other room until I was ready to go to sleep.”

Harry’s mouth dropped in embarrassment. He poured himself a glass of wine and gulped it down quickly. “Just to be clear, I said…” He looked down at the table, his head in his hands. 

“Macy’s name? Yeah, you did,” she said, avoiding his eyes.

“So, we never…?”

“No, Harry,” she said emphatically. “I may be a lot of things, but I’m not interested in having sex with people who can’t consent to it. It wasn’t until you passed out that I realized you probably had no idea you were even with me and not her. If I had even thought for a moment you were as out of it as you were, we never would have come back here. I didn’t realize you thought we had slept together until the poison fiasco.” 

Harry’s phone vibrated. He looked down and saw the caller ID said the Tulipe Institute. “I’m sorry, I need to take this,” he said, relieved for the interruption.

She pursed her lips and nodded. “Of course.” She sat and looked down at the table in humiliation. 

A few moments later, he stepped back into the room. “Abigael, I need to go deal with this. I am sorry.” 

She looked into his eyes and realized he wasn’t just apologizing for needing to leave the dinner. “It’s fine, Harry. I never stood a chance against her. I just hope she’s worth it.” 

Abigael’s guards walked in to notify her she had another visitor. “Fine, send whoever it is in.” She looked over at Harry. He smiled sadly and orbed out of the room. 

Macy walked in and Abby rolled her eyes. “What? Do you have a tracker on him?” 

“What are you talking about? A tracker on who?” Macy asked, irritated.

“Harry. He just left, if you came here to look for him,” Abby crossed her arms.

“Harry was here?” Macy looked over at the table, seeing the full dinner spread out. “For dinner? You know what, no, that’s not why I’m here.” She was certain if Harry had come over here, there was a perfectly logical reason. She trusted him. She would just talk to him about it later. Tonight, she was on a mission. “I need your help.”

Abigael sighed in annoyance. “You know, for someone that seems to hate me so much, you do come to me for help an awful lot.” 

“And if I could go to literally anyone else in the world for this, I would. You are the only one who would be able to help me with this, though.” 

Abigael was intrigued. “Fine, what is it?”

Macy looked down briefly. “I need you to strip my demon powers,” she said, softly. 

Abigael’s eyes widened. She thought a lot of things about the eldest Charmed One, but she never thought her to be so foolish. “Are you insane? Do you know how coveted the fire-based powers are in the demon world?”

“Well, I don’t live in the demon world. And I have my own reasons,” Macy said, crossing her arms nervously and refusing to make eye contact with the Overlord. 

Abigael smirked and narrowed her eyes. “You think the demon powers are interfering with your witch powers. And without your witch powers, there is no Power of Three, making you essentially useless to your sisters. Is that it?” 

Macy scoffed softly. “This was stupid. I never should have come here.” She started to walk out of the apartment.

“I’ll help you,” Abigael agreed quickly.

Macy turned around and looked suspiciously at the Overlord. “Why would you do that? Why would you want us to regain the Power of Three?” She looked over at the table filled with carefully prepared food. “It’s for Harry, isn’t it? You want him to think you can be magnanimous.” She crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side, curiously. “You know he’s not at all interested in you, yet you keep pursuing him. Why?” 

“I don’t like being told no,” Abigael said, bitterly. “And besides, if I help you, you would owe me another favor. It is beneficial for you to be in my debt.” 

Macy pursed her lips. She didn’t want to have to keep owing Abby favors, but she was out of ideas. This was her last chance. “Fine, what do I need to do?”

“Follow me,” Abigael said, heading for her elevator. She recited a quick phrase in Latin and pressed the “SD” button on the control panel.

“SD?” Macy asked nervously as the elevator lurched downwards quickly. She lost her footing for just a moment. 

“Subterranean dungeon,” Abigael said, rolling her eyes. “There’s only one person who can help you and he’s down here.” 

The elevator jolted to a stop. Abigael exited with Macy following nervously behind her. 

“Wake up, emperor of nothing. We need your help,” Abigael said, running her hands along the bars of the cages to make as much noise as possible. 

They stopped in front of one cell. Macy looked at the person in front of her. She turned to Abigael in confusion. “Parker? But how? I saw you kill him,” she asked.

Abigael rolled her eyes. “I pierced him with a homing device, so when I stabbed him, his smoky little self returned directly to my dungeon. Then I healed him. Obviously, if the truth came out, my authority would be questioned.”

“No, you’d be killed,” Macy said, her eyebrows raised. 

“And that would be bad for all of us. If I were dead, who would you go to for all your little favors?” She turned to Parker. “I need the ritual dagger.”

“Hell no, why would I help you?” Parker said, defiantly. “Why don’t you ask your bestie Godric?” 

Abigael’s eyes flashed with anger. Her hand moved, but Macy put her hand over Abigael’s. “Why don’t you go wait over there and let me talk to Parker for a while?” Macy said. 

“Fine, he’s just lucky you don’t seem to have a stomach for torture,” Abigael said, before turning and walking away.

“I didn’t realize you were so close with my sister,” Parker scoffed. 

“Trust me, I may hate her as much as you do,” she admitted. “I know you have no interest in helping Abigael and you barely know me. I don’t want to ask her for help, but there are forces out there that want to destroy The Charmed Ones. That ritual dagger might just be the key to reclaiming the Power of Three. A power we need to survive whatever chaos is coming our way. That Maggie needs to survive. Please. Do this for Maggie. Help me.” 

“Macy, how is she?” he asked, his eyes pleading with her. “She’s all I’ve thought about since I’ve been here.”

“She’s good,” Macy reassured him. “She’s healing.”

He looked down and nodded. “I’ll help you, but only on one condition.”

“Okay,” she said hesitantly.

“I wrote a letter to Maggie, apologizing for everything. I need you to give it to her,” he said, reaching the paper through the bars of the cell. 

Macy sighed. “Parker, she’s finally starting to move on.” She thought of Maggie’s reaction to the texts from Jordan. She seemed lighter and happier than she had in months. She didn’t want to be the one to take that from her.

“I don’t want her to move on, though,” Parker said, his eyes pleading with Macy to understand. “I love her. Look, I’m only going to tell you where the dagger is if you take the letter.”

She looked down at the paper in his hands. She didn’t necessarily have to give it to her. She knew she would, though. Maggie deserved to know the truth. “Fine. I’ll give it to her.” She called Abigael back over and Parker pointed out the dagger’s location. Abigael took it and went back to the elevator. 

“Macy?” Parker said before she walked away. “I am sorry. For everything. Tell that to Mel, too?”

Macy nodded. “I will.” 

She went back upstairs with Abigael. “Are you still sure about this?” Abigael asked. “It’s monumentally stupid of you.” 

“You say it’s stupid, but this is my choice. I want to get rid of them,” Macy said. “Now, just do it.” 

“On bended knee, then,” Abigael said, smugly. “In order for it to work correctly, you have to subjugate yourself.”

“Do I really have to do that or do you just want to further humiliate me?” Macy muttered.

“Why not both?” she sneered. 

“Yeah, well, that’s not going to happen. I’m not bowing down to you,” she said, raising her chin defiantly.

“Fine then, just know that you will fall over. I was merely trying to make it so you didn’t have as far to fall,” Abigael said, crossing her arms and fixing Macy with just as defiant as a stare.

“I’m sure I’ll live,” Macy sneered. “Look, will you just do this already?”

“This Power of Three must be important to you to go through all this,” Abigael said, curiously.

“You would never understand.”

“Yeah, yeah, the Power of Sisterhood and all that utter nonsense. Let’s get this done before I wretch.” Abigael ran the dagger along her palm, cutting herself. She pointed her palm in Macy’s direction and focused on absorbing her power. 

Macy felt her powers being ripped from her body. It was as if her individual cells were being ripped apart. She had never had a more agonizing experience. She screamed in pain and crumpled to the ground. A moment later, she felt Abigael shake her. She must have lost consciousness for a moment.

“Did it work?” Abigael asked, almost nervously. 

Macy stuck her hand out and focused on creating a fireball. Nothing happened. “It must have.” She felt numb for a second. Her demon powers were really gone. They had felt like an anchor around her neck for so long and now they were gone. 

Abigael nodded. “I hope you got what you wanted then.” 

Macy nodded and stood up. “I should be going then. Thank you, Abby,” she said, sarcastically. “I’ll make sure to tell Harry what a great help you were.” 

Abigael rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. He won’t care. I know that.” Macy didn’t know that all Abigael had to do was a simple incantation and she could transfer all of Macy’s powers into her own body. She wasn’t lying when she told Macy how coveted the fire-based powers were. 

And now, they were all hers. 

* * *

Macy walked back to the Command Center, eager to test out the black amber and see if it would restore her powers now. She walked in and saw her sisters sitting there drinking together.

“There you are,” Maggie said. “Where did you go?”

“I got rid of my demon powers. I asked Abigael to strip them from me,” she responded. 

“Wow, okay,” Mel said. “That’s huge. Are you sure about this? Should we have talked about this first?”

“No, I'm sure it was the right decision. Come with me and see if it worked?” Macy said, nervous but excited. 

The sisters walked into the Command Center to find Harry sitting with a blond woman they had never seen before. 

“Harry?” Macy asked, confused. “Who is this?”

“This is Helen,” he said. “She is the original Whitelighter. Something terrible has happened. Her Darklighter got loose and killed everyone in their hospital, except for Helen. We need to find her Darklighter.”

“I don’t understand,” Maggie asked. “Why didn’t she kill Helen, too?”

Helen looked up at them. “Can’t,” she struggled to say. 

Harry walked over to her and kneeled down. “Can’t what?” he asked her gently. 

The blood in Macy’s veins ran cold as she realized what Helen meant. “Darklighters can’t kill Whitelighters,” Macy said, looking at Helen, who nodded in agreement. She looked at Harry, terrified. “And Whitelighters can’t kill Darklighters.”

“That means he’s still out there,” Harry said, wanting to take Macy in his arms. He could see the fear in her eyes. He couldn’t do that, though. She was with Julian and he had to focus on Helen right now. “Helen, do you have any idea where your Darklighter could be?”

“Maybe I could try to get a vision?” Maggie said, stepping forward hesitantly.

Helen looked up at Harry, a questioning look in her eyes. She trusted him, but she didn’t know these women. He realized what she was asking.

“My apologies, Helen,” he said, motioning for Mel and Macy to come closer. “This is Maggie, Mel, and Macy. They are witches. The Charmed Ones, specifically.” Her eyes got wider at the mention of their title. “They’re my charges. Maggie has the gift of foresight.”

“Hi Helen,” Maggie said, leaning down next to her. “Would it be alright if I touched your arm for a moment?” She waited for Helen to nod her consent before reaching out to touch her. 

Maggie closed her eyes, focusing her energy on Helen’s spirit. She saw a set of street signs. “Alderman Avenue and Chapel Way,” she told Harry and her sisters.

Macy ran over to the computer to look it up. “It’s an intersection in Plymouth, Massachusetts,” she said. 

“Alright, we’ll start there,” Harry said as Macy pulled it up on the witchboard. “Maggie, will you come with me? Your visions might be able to help us track the Darklighter’s movements. Mel and Macy, stay here with Helen.”

“Absolutely,” Maggie said, pulling on her coat.

He looked back at the two older sisters. “Take care of her, please.” 

Harry opened a portal to Plymouth and stepped through with Maggie. She looked up at him, worriedly. “Harry, what happens when we find her?” 

“I don’t know quite yet,” he confessed. “We’ll figure it out, though.”

She looked up and saw the street signs from her vision. “Right here.” 

He looked across the street to see a darkened grocery store with several broken windows. A row of carts were overturned, blood smeared on one of their handles. 

“Harry, what happened here?” Maggie asked nervously. 

They walked inside to find food cartons strewn throughout the aisles. An employee laid dead in the aisle, his head with a gaping wound presumably from hitting the shelf. They quickly walked throughout the aisles, finding several more employees and patrons lying dead. 

“It was a massacre,” Maggie said, tearing up. “Where could she be?” 

“I don’t know,” Harry said, nervously. He knew Darklighters could be vicious, but this was downright animalistic. He had no idea what they would do when they found her. 

* * *

Back at the Command Center, Macy and Mel sat with Helen. Macy was lost in thought. She was scared at the thought the Darklighter was definitely out there somewhere. She was anxious after stripping her powers. She desperately wanted to go test out her theories about the black amber, but Harry needed them to focus on Helen right now. 

“Do you want something to eat?” Mel asked Helen nervously. 

Helen shook her head. She saw the edge of a box underneath the table and gasped. “Mine,” she whispered.

Macy leaned down and pulled the box up. It appeared to be a suitcase filled with old letters. “Is this yours, Helen?”

Helen smiled and nodded. Macy placed it on the table in front of her and opened it. Helen reached in to grab out some letters. Macy and Mel each grabbed something from the box, staying more focused on official documents rather than personal letters. They wanted to leave those for Helen.

“Helen, were you from Plymouth?” Mel asked, looking through some of the documents from the Tulipe Institute. 

Helen nodded and smiled at her. She found a letter and handed it to Macy. Her eyebrows raised as if she were asking something.

“Do you want me to read this to you?” Macy asked her.

Helen nodded again. “Please,” she said.

Macy looked down at the letter and began to read aloud. “ _ My dearest Helen, I have nearly enough money saved to come and get you. I have found a house for us. It sits on a patch of land and looks out over the most beautiful meadow. I cannot wait for you to see it. Just be patient. I am coming for you. Yours always, Daniel. _ ” 

Mel looked down at a marriage certificate for Helen and Zachariah McGantry. She looked at Helen. “Your husband was Zachariah, though?” Helen nodded sadly. Mel looked back down at the marriage certificate. “Omigod, Zachariah was 40 years old and you were only 16? You were married off?” Helen looked at Mel, a tear running down her cheek. 

“You were in love with Daniel, though, weren’t you?” Macy asked her. Helen nodded again. “You just wanted a chance to be with the man you loved.” 

Mel’s phone rang and she stepped away to answer it. “Hey Mags, how is it going?”

“Not great,” Maggie told her. “It’s beyond brutal. There’s a lot of carnage. Have you guys been able to get any more leads on Helen’s past? Anything that might lead us to her Darklighter?”

“She was married to Zachariah McGantry, but she was in love with a man named Daniel Rayburn,” Mel told her. She looked up something on the computer quickly. “Daniel is buried in a cemetery on Cavalry Hill.” Mel looked back over at Macy, who was continuing to read Daniel’s letters to Helen. The wistful look on Helen’s face broke Mel’s heart. “The Darklighter is going to look for Daniel. I guarantee it.” 

“Okay, thanks,” Maggie said. “We’ll look for her there.” She hung up and walked back over to Harry.

“Did you find out anything?” he asked, beginning to stress. 

Maggie relayed the information Mel provided about Daniel. “How sad is that? She just wanted to be with the man she loved.” 

“Sad as it may be, we have to remember our mission here,” Harry reminded her. ”If we find this Darklighter, there is a very real chance we will have to destroy her. You saw what she did to all of those people.” 

As they walked to the cemetery, Maggie thought about Helen wanting to be with the man she loved. “Why are we all doing this, Harry?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “Here it is,” he said, opening the gate to the cemetery and ushering Maggie inside. 

“We’re all denying ourselves the chance to be happy with other people. Jordan asked me out and I turned him down. Ruby asked Mel out and she turned her down. And then you and Macy, I don’t even know what you two are doing. There is so much pain and suffering in our lives. Why are we denying ourselves joy?” 

“It’s not that simple, Maggie,” Harry said, stopping to look at his youngest charge. “Things are complicated in our line of work. It’s not always a matter of just simply getting to be with someone.” 

“Look, I know why I turned down Jordan and I know why Mel turned down Ruby. That would be bringing someone into the circle, which is dangerous. But I just don’t get what’s happening with you and Macy. There’s no reason you two shouldn’t be together,” Maggie urged him. 

He sighed. “Maggie, please. Now is really not the time.” He looked around the headstones and found the one for Daniel Rayburn. 

“Both of you keep saying that,” Maggie said, frustrated. “You keep waiting for everything to line up perfectly. But that’s never going to happen unless you make it happen. Do you love my sister?” 

“More than anything,” Harry said, looking down and pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “You know that, but that’s not important right now. And besides, Macy has someone else now. If she’s happy with Julian, that’s all I want for her.”

Maggie realized Harry didn’t know Macy and Julian had broken up. Just as she was about to tell him, she had a vision of Helen’s Darklighter. She looked up and saw the Darklighter about to jump out of a tree. “Harry, move!” Maggie yelled, pushing him to the side.

The Darklighter landed on the ground, her knife falling out of her hand. Harry focused his energy on stopping the Darklighter’s movements. She fought back against him and he struggled to hold her still. “Maggie! I can’t hold her back for long!”

“We can reach her!” Maggie yelled. “I know it!”

“Maggie, she’s too far gone. We have to do this.” He stumbled and the Darklighter ran towards Maggie. He picked up a shovel and prepared to hit the Darklighter with it. 

“Stop!” Maggie yelled. “I know about Daniel!” The Darklighter stopped at the mention of her lover’s name. “I know you were in love with him and you never got a chance to live the life you dreamed of with him. It was horrible what they did to you, the Elders.” The Darklighter’s eyes flashed at the mention of the Elders. “But we’re not them,” Maggie continued. “My sisters and Harry and I, we want to help you. We’re not like the Elders.” 

Harry cautiously approached the Darklighter. “Can we take you somewhere to keep you safe?” She nodded slowly at him. “I just need you to give me the knife first.” She hesitantly reached her hand out and gave him the knife. 

Maggie smiled at her Whitelighter. “Let’s go home now.” 

* * *

Harry reopened the portal to the Command Center. Macy and Mel were still sitting with Helen, reading through her letters.

Macy was the first to look up. “Harry? You brought her back here?” she asked, nervously.

“She deserves to live,” Maggie said. 

Harry pulled over a chair for the Darklighter and set a containment spell over her. “Just as a precaution, we need to keep you in this for now.” The Darklighter nodded her understanding. 

“What do we do now?” Macy asked.

“I don’t know,” Harry said, honestly. “They can’t keep living this way, though.” 

Helen got up and put her hand against the forcefield containing her dark half. The Darklighter put her hand against Helen’s. They smiled at each other. Helen looked over at the Charmed Ones and Harry. “Merge? Please.” 

“Are you certain, Helen?” Harry asked nervously. “It’s never been done before.” 

She nodded. “Together.” 

“She’s never had a choice how to live her life,” Mel urged. “Her family married her off and took her away from the man she loves. Then she was torn into pieces and has been living this way ever since. Please, just let her have a choice.”

“Of course,” Harry agreed. He understood how it felt to be torn into pieces. He could only imagine how it felt to have never had a choice in any aspect of her life. “Dimite ex carcere.” 

The two Helens embraced each other for the first time. The smiles on their faces warmed Harry’s heart. 

“There’s got to be something in the Book of Elders about a merging spell,” Macy said, walking over to the Book.

“Macy, no!” Harry yelled, expecting her to be blown across the room when she touched it. When it didn’t happen, he looked at her in confusion. She smiled at him with a quiet confidence. 

“Elders?” the Darklighter said. “Elders!” She shrieked and launched herself across the room at Macy.

“She thinks Macy’s an Elder!” Maggie yelled. 

The Darklighter pinned Macy to the ground, her hands wrapped around her neck. Macy began to gasp for breath. Mel and Maggie ran over, trying to pull the Darklighter from their sister. As suddenly as she attacked Macy, she stopped. She looked down to see blood spreading across her chest and fell to her knees.

“What-” Macy started.

“Helen!” Harry yelled. He looked over to see Helen had plunged a knife into her chest, falling to her knees. 

“Harry! Heal her!” Maggie pleaded.

He ran to Helen’s side, pulling out the knife and focusing his energy on her wound. He knew he wouldn’t be able to, though. “I can’t heal this. It’s self-inflicted.” Helen looked at him and nodded. “Helen, why?” 

“My. Choice,” she whispered, as the blood seeped out of her body. As she died, the spirit of the Darklighter reabsorbed into her body, finally making her whole once more. She quietly died with a peaceful smile on her face.

Mel and Maggie came over to hold Helen while she faded. They both cried over her body. Harry got up to go to Macy who was sitting frozen on the ground. He gently touched her arm, fighting the urge to pull her into his arms and lay her head against his chest. “Are you okay?” he asked the eldest Charmed One.

“Yeah, just… is that what happens if you kill a Darklighter?” Macy asked, afraid. “Does it kill the Whitelighter, too?” 

“It would appear so,” he said, nervously. 

“We can never kill him,” Macy whispered to herself. For so long, she rested easy in the knowledge Harry had killed her tormentor. Now, she knew he was out there and killing him would also kill the man she was fairly certain she loved. 

“It’s okay,” Harry said, putting his hand on her shoulder. The devastated look on her face made him want to pull her into his arms and never let her go. He thought back to the conversation with Maggie. He didn’t want to deny himself joy anymore, but it was too late. She had found her joy with another man. “We’ll figure this out.” 

Mel came over to her sister and Harry. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.” 

“You guys go on. There’s something I want to do down here first,” Macy said. Her nerves were completely frayed right now. There were so many unanswered questions swimming in her mind at the moment. She couldn’t rest until she got an answer to one thing first. 

“Are you sure?” Harry asked. He didn’t want to leave her down here alone. 

“I’ll be right up,” Macy said, nodding at him. 

She waited for her sisters and Harry to leave before placing a couple drops of black amber on her fingers. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and attempted to move a feather across the table. When there was no movement, she fell apart. “Damn it!” she yelled, hitting her hand on the table. What had she done? Stripping her demon powers was supposed to help her regain her witch powers. Now, she had nothing left. She was no closer to regaining the Power of Three. She sat curled in a ball and cried for a few moments. If she stayed down here much longer, her family would come looking for her. She didn’t want them to find her like this. 

* * *

She walked upstairs and found her family sitting at their usual table. She took the open seat next to Harry. He looked at her hesitantly and smiled. “Are you okay?” he asked. 

She nodded, smiling at him, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. He knew she was lying. 

“So, how are you able to touch the Book of Elders now?” he asked, confused. 

“I had Abigael strip away my demon powers,” she said. “Not that it worked, anyway. I just tried and the black amber didn’t change anything. All I did was get rid of the last bit of powers I had.”

He fought the urge to reach out and hold her hand or pull her into his arms. She looked so distraught. He instinctively moved his hand just a little closer to hers. “It didn’t work yet. We’re going to figure this out. All of us.” He looked up to Mel and Maggie. “Together.” 

Maggie could tell her sister was about to fall apart. She tried to divert her attention. “I think you were on to the right idea, though. Getting rid of dark energy to make room for the light. I’ve been holding on to Parker and all that dark energy. I want to let go of all that darkness and misery. It’s time to let joy in.” She looked at Harry. “All of us need to start letting in the joy. No more excuses.” 

He looked down at the table. He knew his only chance at happiness would come from Macy and she was otherwise entangled. 

“I just keep thinking about Helen,” Mel said. “I forget sometimes how lucky we are to be women in this day and age. We’re free to be who we want, do what we want, love who we want. So many women didn’t have that same luxury. I’m done squandering that. Tonight, we celebrate our lives. In honor of Helen.” She held her glass up in a toast. Her sisters and Harry clinked their bottles against hers. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Mel got up and walked over to the bar where Ruby was starting to close up for the night. She said something and Ruby began to laugh. 

“I haven’t seen Mel smile like that in forever,” Maggie said. Her phone chimed with a text. “It’s Jordan. I’m going to go meet up with him for karaoke and whatever else happens.” She smiled and got up to leave. “Don’t wait up for me.” 

Harry and Macy sat there together. Macy was lost in thought about everything that had happened today. She thought about Helen and Daniel’s lost chance at love. The news that Parker was still alive and the letter burning a hole in her pocket. Maggie’s joy over a possible new relationship with Jordan. Mel’s smile as she flirted with Ruby. Harry’s attentive worrying over her in the Command Center. She was certain she knew what, or more specifically who, would bring her joy in this world. She just had to stop running in fear from him. 

“Well, it seems you all are off to other companions for the evening,” Harry said, sadly. He was certain Macy was eager to find her way to Julian. “I think I shall head home for the evening then.”

Macy still sat there, lost in thought. “Okay,” she said, not paying attention. 

Harry stepped out to the alleyway and orbed back home. He changed into his pajamas and sat down on the couch with a book. This was how he was destined to spend the rest of his nights, alone. He had a chance at something more once, but that was gone now. 

Mel walked back over to the table where Macy sat. “Mace?” she said, picking up her coat. “Why are you still here?” 

“What?” Macy said, looking around and seeing she was now alone. “Sorry, I was just thinking.” 

“Well, I think there’s probably someone waiting for you at home,” Mel smiled. “Go. Be happy. You both deserve it.” 

Macy smiled at her sister. “Yeah, I think I will.” 

* * *

She walked home, thinking about the possibility of starting something with Harry. She had been here so many times this year, always afraid to push herself into something more. The one time she had been ready, his Darklighter interfered. And then Abigael. And then Julian. She was so tired of waiting. She opened the door and saw Harry sitting in the living room by the fire. 

He looked up at the sound of the door. “Macy, what are you doing here?” he asked, standing up. “I thought you and your sisters were all off to be with other people tonight. Stop denying yourself love and all of that.” 

She nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m doing,” she said, moving towards him. “When I think of the person who is the most important to me, who I want to run to when something good happens, who I want to console me when something bad happens, it’s you. It’s undeniably, emphatically you. And I’m still working out exactly what that means. But Harry, all I want is to spend my evening with you. If you’ll have me.” She moved closer to him. She wanted to put her arms around him, pull him against her body, and kiss him until she couldn’t breathe. She stopped an arm’s distance away from him. 

“What about Julian?” he asked, skeptically. They had been here so many other times, but there was always some obstacle in their way. 

“Harry, there is no Julian,” she said, her eyes pleading with him to understand. 

“What do you mean?”

She went to the couch and motioned for him to sit down next to her. “I don’t know how much you remember from when you were sick. Julian’s aunt had this machine that can run a full DNA profile in under an hour. The science behind it is astounding, I mean-” Harry tilted his head to the side the way he did when she would start rambling. She shook her head. “Sorry, that’s not the important part, but I asked to use it so we could figure out what was making you sick. She told me I could only use it if I broke up with Julian. We weren’t ever really dating, but I didn’t even hesitate. She barely finished her sentence before I was leaving a voicemail to break up with him. I think I was almost relieved. Don’t get me wrong, Julian was great. With him, I could just be Macy Vaughn, scientist, instead of Macy Vaughn, Charmed One. And he’s attractive enough. He liked me a lot. But there was always something missing.”

He looked at her confused. “But I saw you kiss him the day after I was sick.” 

She nodded. “He told me he knew his aunt had made me call everything off. He told me he would deal with her, but that he wanted to be with me. Then he kissed me. And Harry, I didn’t feel anything. There was no passion. That was the first time he kissed me and there was just nothing. All I could think was this isn’t how a kiss is supposed to feel. I didn’t feel my stomach drop to my knees. I didn’t feel like my whole body was on fire.” She looked Harry directly in the eyes and took a deep breath. “I didn’t feel anything like I feel when you kiss me.”

He looked at her silently. His eyes blinked open and closed. He wouldn’t let himself hope. If he had her close and then lost her again, he knew he couldn’t handle that. 

“Harry?” she said, nervously. “This is where you say something, too.” 

“Macy, you’ve always been that person for me,” he said, turning his body towards her fully. “That’s never changed.” 

“I still don’t know if I’m ready for any sort of a physical relationship, but Harry, I need you in my life. I’ve seen what life is like without you by my side, and quite frankly, it’s miserable.”

He reached out to take her hand hesitantly. “I told you I would wait for you as long as you needed, love. Nothing has changed there. I would wait an eternity if that was what you needed from me.” 

“So, what does that make us?”

He stopped to think for a moment. “It makes us Harry and Macy. It means you’re still my best friend and I’m still utterly lost for you. It means you don’t need to know everything about how you feel tonight. It means when you do know, I’ll be here waiting for you. But tonight, I would love nothing more than to sit here with my best friend.” 

She nodded, relieved. “Why do you always know exactly what to say to make me feel better?”

He looked at her with a laugh in his eyes. “I think we both know that is not true. Now, you go change into pajamas and I’ll make us some tea.” 

She leaned in and hugged him tightly. “Thank you.” 

He savored the feeling of her in his arms once more. He had convinced himself this would never happen. He was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. He pulled back and pushed her hair behind her ear. “Of course, my love.” 

She went upstairs to her room and closed the door. She leaned against it, a smile on her face. She fought every urge to run downstairs, pull Harry into a kiss, and start stripping off their clothes. She knew she wasn’t ready for that yet. But she was getting closer to that every day. Besides, her relationship with him transcended sex. 

She walked downstairs to find him adding more wood to the fire. He turned around and smiled at her. “You look gorgeous,” he said.

She rolled her eyes and smiled. “I’m in my pajamas, Harry.”

“Yes, that doesn’t change the fact that I think you’re beautiful,” he agreed as he walked over to hold her hands between his own. “I want to tell you that every time I see you, but I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable before. Is it okay if I tell you that now?” 

She smiled and nodded at him. “Yes, as long as I can tell you those sweatpants on you drive me absolutely insane.” 

He chuckled as he sat down on the couch and pulled her down next to him. “I will remember that.” He played with his hands nervously. He wanted to reach out and put his arm around her shoulder. He craved the feeling of her body against his, but he knew she wasn’t there yet. 

She turned to him and smiled. She could tell he wanted to touch her. He always started fidgeting with his hands when he was fighting the urge to touch her. “This is nice. And Harry, I’m not going to break if you touch me. I’ll tell you if it’s too much. I promise.” She moved closer and put her head against his shoulder. 

She felt him start to place his head against hers, but he stopped himself at the last moment. “I was thinking about something you said earlier. You said one of the things you liked about Julian was that you could talk to him about your interests.” 

She looked at him and nodded. “Yeah, that was probably why I spent as much time with him as I did.” 

“I may not be a doctor, so you may have to explain some of it to me, but you can talk to me about those things. You used to talk to me about your work all the time.”

“I know it’s not really your thing,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “I don’t want to bore you with it.”

“Nothing you tell me could ever be boring,” he reassured her. “I love hearing you talk about your passions. You light up and your enthusiasm is infectious. So, tell me, what makes this machine of Julian’s aunt’s so unique?”

“Are you sure? That’s what you want to talk about tonight?”

“I’m sure. You started to get so excited, so it must be a big deal. I want to know all the things that make you happy.” He finally leaned his head down against hers. “I want to know everything about you, Macy.” 

She smiled and once again fought the urge to kiss him. She started to detail all the reasons it was so unheard of for a DNA profile to be done in such a short amount of time. Then she moved on to tell Harry all about the Theranos controversy and how the Airmid seemed to promise to do what Theranos couldn’t. He remembered hearing about that controversy in the news and jumped in with what he could remember. From there, they spent the evening just talking to each other. She talked to him about some of the other recent revelations in the world of genetics research. He talked about some of the articles he had read that fit in with his old research. He missed his studies just as much as she did hers. They talked about the latest gossip that had been floating around SafeSpace. Any topic that popped into their heads, they talked about that night.

They stayed away from the heavier topics that night. There was no discussion of Darklighters or the Power of Three. The night was simply focused on two friends spending time enjoying each other’s company after far too long spent apart. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! If you feel so inclined, any comments or kudos are very much appreciated. I can't say enough how much I appreciate all of you who have been reading and commenting. 
> 
> This Wednesday, I'll be posting my entry in the Charmed Secret Santa Fic Exchange, so look out for that if you'd like to read it. I'm really excited to share that with everyone. 
> 
> I'll be back next Sunday with the next chapter. Have a fantastic week, everyone!


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Breaking the Cycle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry tries to track down the Darklighter with the help of an unlikely aide. Maggie, Mel, and Macy are forced to confess their secrets in an attempt to regain the Power of Three. Macy reveals the extent of her experience with the Darklighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left comments or kudos after the last chapter. As I mentioned last week, I'll be updating this biweekly from here on out (Sunday and Wednesday) until the final chapter is posted on January 24. 
> 
> As always, a massive thank you to my phenomenal beta katasstropheee. 
> 
> Some dialogue pulled from 2x13: Breaking the Cycle.

Harry and Macy talked into the wee hours of the morning. They fell asleep on the couch together, his arm around her and her head pressed against his shoulder. 

He dreamed he was in the attic, but something felt off. A door creaked open from behind him. He looked up and saw his Darklighter step through.

“Hello, Harry,” the Darklighter sneered.

“Jimmy,” Harry said, fighting the urge to go and punch him. “I’ve been wondering when you’d resurface, no matter how much I hoped you wouldn’t.” 

“We’ve traded enough killing blows, you and I,” Jimmy said. “I thought it was time for a civil chat.”

“About what?” Harry asked, confused. He had nothing to say to Jimmy. 

“The truth. What’s really going on.” 

“The truth?”

“Foster Island, Maine. You have two hours. Or I could come to you, of course.” 

Harry jolted awake. This was the first time Jimmy had visited him in a dream. He understood now how unsettling the experience was. 

“Harry? What’s wrong?” Macy asked, sleepily. His sudden movement woke her up.

“Nothing, love. Everything is fine,” he said, not wanting to worry her. 

She sat up to look at him, her brow furrowed. She looked at his arm, which was still around her shoulder. “Then why is the Darklighter’s poison lighting up in your veins?”

He looked down and saw the green poison running up his arm.

“He came to you, didn’t he?” she said. She sighed as he looked away from her. “Harry, no more secrets. Just tell me the truth.”

“He told me to be in Maine in the next two hours,” he said, sighing. 

“Then let’s go,” she said, moving to stand up. 

“Macy, no,” he said, reaching for her. “You’re not coming. I’ll not have you anywhere near him. After everything he did before? No.” 

“Well, you’re not going alone. I know what he’s capable of, remember?”

He looked at her, realizing she was right. Going alone would be a suicide mission. He also knew that he had to keep her safe from Jimmy, whatever the cost. “Text your sisters and tell them to meet us at the Command Center. We’ll come up with a plan together.”

* * *

Macy and Harry arrived at the Command Center together. Maggie was already waiting for them. 

“It’s the Darklighter, isn’t it?” she asked, worriedly. “I had a premonition that he came to you.” 

Mel came running in wearing the same clothes as the night before. “Sorry, my phone was on silent. What’s the plan?”

Harry explained the encounter with the Darklighter and how he had been summoned to Maine.

“So, we’re heading to Maine then?” Mel said, walking over to the Witchboard. 

“You three cannot come with me. He wants to lure you all out of hiding. That would be playing directly into his trap,” Harry said. 

“Well, what do you expect to do alone? The two of you can’t destroy each other,” Macy pointed out. 

Harry went over to the shelf and grabbed the Darklighter’s vessel. “I might be able to put the genie back in the bottle, so to speak. It’s the best plan I’ve got right now. Look, he was inside my head. He may know our whereabouts. He insinuated as much. If I don’t stop him-”

“He’ll come for me…” Macy finished. She looked at Harry with fear in her eyes. “For all of us.” 

“Do you even know how to use that?” Mel asked him, her brow furrowed.

“I have a basic idea of how it works,” Harry said, not totally sure of his plan. “It’s not the best plan, but I have to get going.”

“You’re not going alone,” Maggie said, crossing her arms. “End of story. You’re taking someone with you.”

“And who would you propose I take?” Harry said, exasperated. 

“Jordan,” Maggie exclaimed. “He wants to help witches. Keeping us safe from your Darklighter would be helping us. Plus, he’s got combat skills. I’m texting him.” She sent the text and within 30 seconds, she got a response. “He’s on his way here now, anyway.” 

Harry walked over to Macy and put his hand on her shoulder. “Love, I need you to focus on getting your powers back. I know you’ve been trying, but it’s your only defense.” 

“I’ve been trying,” she said, frustrated. “I don’t know what else to do.”

“I know. You just have to keep trying,” he said, wishing he could give her more guidance. “You need them to stay safe.” 

She pulled him in for a hug. “Just promise me you’re coming home today?” 

He knew there was a chance things could go south. If it came down to it and the only way to keep Macy safe from the Darklighter was to sacrifice himself, he knew he wouldn’t hesitate to do so. He couldn’t tell her that, though. “I promise I will do everything within my power to come home,” he said, holding her close for just one moment longer. He hoped this would not be the last time he held her in his arms. But if it was, he took a small amount of peace in the knowledge his death would keep her safe. He turned to Maggie. “Tell Jordan I’ll meet him upstairs.” 

Macy looked in his eyes one more time. “I can’t lose you, Harry. So, I’m sure you have some crazy plan that involves you sacrificing yourself for our safety. I’m telling you right now to forget it. You. Are. Coming. Home.” 

He couldn’t quite meet her eyes. “I’ll see you later, love.” 

He went upstairs to wait for Jordan. He wasn’t sure about bringing him along. He barely knew the man, but Maggie trusted him and that was enough for Harry right now. His backup plan was Abigael and he really didn’t want to owe her another favor, especially after their last conversation. 

“Hey, Harry,” Jordan said, walking over with a smile. “So, what’s the adventure for today? Maggie didn’t tell me much.”

“Is there someplace we can talk privately?” Harry asked. He needed to catch Jordan up on everything before they left.

“Yeah, let’s go up to the gym,” Jordan said, his brow furrowing. They walked upstairs together. “So, you seem super intense and you’re not normally the most chill guy, so that’s saying a lot. What exactly did I agree to today?” 

“How much has Maggie explained about my role in her life?” Harry asked, trying to determine how much backstory Jordan needed.

“Not really much. You’re just kind of always around. I hadn’t really thought too much about it,” Jordan said, shrugging.

“I’m what’s called a Whitelighter. My role is to advise and protect witches. Essentially, I died and was given a second chance at life in exchange for my work as a Whitelighter. When I was created, I was torn into two pieces. One of those pieces is what I am now, all the “good” parts of me. All the darkness was separated into another piece, which was put into this bottle.” He pulled the bottle out and showed Jordan.

“But that’s an empty bottle,” Jordan said, confused.

“Precisely the problem. My Darklighter has gotten out and we need to recapture him. I cannot stress enough how dangerous it is for him to be out wreaking havoc in this world.” 

“So, are we killing your Darklighter then? Because I don’t know how I feel about killing someone.” 

“If we kill him, it will kill me in the process. The goal is going to be to get him back into this bottle.”

“And how do we do that?” 

“I think I know how to do it,” he admitted nervously. He had a vague memory of what had happened when he was split originally. He had read through the passage in the Book of Elders several times. He just hoped he would remember the steps when he encountered Jimmy.

“You think?” Jordan asked, skeptically. 

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was the part that made him the most nervous. He knew it was an insane favor to ask of someone he barely knew, but it was the only solution he had. All he knew was that he could not leave Jimmy out in the world. “Yes, but if it doesn’t work, I need you to kill me.”

“You want me to kill you?” Jordan clarified, his eyes wide as saucers. 

“Thus killing him in the process. Yes,” Harry said, sighing defeatedly. 

Jordan tilted his head to the side, his brow furrowed in angry confusion. “So, let me get this straight. We’re going off after what is essentially your evil twin to try to put him back in a bottle. You only kind of think you know how to do that. And if it goes wrong, you want me to kill you. And then what? Come home and explain to Maggie that I killed her teacher because he asked me to do it? Are you insane?”

“There’s a reason that isn’t the first plan,” Harry said, his voice small. 

Jordan took a deep breath and sat down. “How dangerous is this guy?” 

Harry sat down on the bench next to Jordan. “He kidnapped Macy and held her hostage for several days a few months ago. He’s been kidnapping magical creatures for who knows what reason. He’s killed at least a couple of people. So, he’s pretty dangerous.”

Jordan shook his head and leaned over, putting his elbows on his knees. He looked at Harry seriously. “I don’t like this at all, man.” 

Harry nodded in agreement. “I know. It’s a lot to ask. And I’ve got one more thing to ask.”

Jordan sighed. “There’s more?”

Harry turned to face Jordan, his eyes slightly pleading. “You can’t tell Maggie or her sisters that I asked you to kill me. They cannot know that’s my backup plan.”

Jordan studied Harry for a moment. “You’re more than their teacher, aren’t you? What exactly are they to you?”

Harry took a deep breath. “They’re my family. Which is why I would give everything I have to keep them safe, up to and including my life.”

Jordan closed his eyes and sighed. “Fine, but I want something in exchange for not telling them.”

Harry smirked halfheartedly. “Aren’t you just supposed to be protecting witches to balance the scales of justice?”

Jordan laughed slightly, his heart not fully in it. “Yeah, and that’s why I’m going with you to help you on this.” He looked over at Harry, his face serious. “But I want something more for keeping secrets from Maggie.” 

Harry nodded in agreement. “Fine, what else would you like?”

Jordan stood up, turning to face Harry. He clapped his hands together and smiled nervously. “I want you to teach me. I want to do what you do. Advise and protect witches. So, I help you with this. You start teaching me your ways.” 

Harry looked at the man. He didn’t know him well and this request was highly unorthodox. However, he knew Maggie thought very highly of him. Over the past several weeks, she had been talking about the gentleman frequently. He had been a huge help to her in New Orleans. “Fine. We see how today goes. If I survive, I will start teaching you.” 

“Then you’ve got a deal, man,” Jordan said, putting his hand out for Harry to shake. “Now, let’s get going to Maine.” 

Harry looked to make sure they were clear and orbed them to Maine. 

* * *

While Harry and Jordan left, the sisters continued to dig for black amber in the Command Center. “This is crazy. This can’t be how the Elders meant for witches to get their powers back,” Mel said, irritated. “There has to be something else in the book.”

Macy stepped over to the Book of Elders and flipped through the pages. “Not that I’ve been able to find. And trust me, I’ve been reading this thing obsessively since I’ve been able to touch it. But the black amber worked for you and for Maggie. There is no reason it shouldn’t work for me, too. We just need to get more of it.” 

Maggie picked up the shovel and thrust it back into the ground, hitting something metallic and hard. “Uh, that can’t have been good,” she muttered. Around them, the lights went out.

“Lockdown protocol,” a robotic voice said from above. 

“What did you do?” Macy said, panicking. 

The sisters ran towards the door, but an invisible forcefield prevented them from going anywhere. They looked back and watched as the lights in the witchboard went dark. Mel reached out to try and use her powers, but it didn’t work. Macy checked her phone, which had no service. 

“Did I just break the Command Center?” Maggie asked, worried. 

* * *

Harry and Jordan landed in Maine. As they hit the ground, Jordan lost his balance and started coughing. “Damn, is it always like that?” he said.

“First time orbing is always the worst,” Harry said, looking around cautiously. “Now, keep your wits about you. We’re more than likely walking into a trap.” He looked up and saw a hooded figure sitting in the gazebo. “There, straight ahead.” 

They walked over to the person who was sitting completely still. They were too still. Harry walked around in front of the person and saw they were frozen. “Something’s not right,” he said, looking around.

“It’s like the town is frozen,” Jordan said. “No one is moving. Anywhere. It’s like time is stopped.”

“No, I’ve seen time magic,” Harry said. “Come on. Let’s keep going.”

They walked throughout town. All the humans appeared to be frozen in place. They came across a Dalmatian, standing patiently next to its owner. The dog barked at them. “See, not everything is frozen,” Harry said. “This is something very different.”

In the distance, they heard a voice. Jordan changed direction and walked towards the sound. They found a florist van with a radio going. Jordan climbed in the driver’s seat and pulled the keys out of the ignition. He put his hand on the steering wheel and pulled it away to find blood on his hand.

Harry walked around to the back of the van and opened the back door. “Funny, most florists I know don’t keep cages and handcuffs in the back of their vans,” he said, drawing Jordan’s attention to the peculiar hardware in the car.

Jordan jumped in the back, seeing a small device tucked into the back. “What is this?” he asked, showing Harry. He pressed a button on the side and it lit up. As he moved it in Harry’s direction, it began to click loudly. 

“A magic detector,” Harry said. “Could explain how the Darklighter’s been so easily able to find magical creatures.”

Jordan felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. “Someone’s watching us,” he said. He looked up and saw movement in a window across the street from them. “Up there. Someone’s moving around up there.” 

They walked across the street. Jordan kept the magic detector turned on and used it to guide their movements. They entered a history museum and walked through an exhibit on whaling. 

“Something isn’t right,” Harry said, confused. Whoever this was seemed to be drawing them into a place with no exits. He and Jordan had the upper hand here. 

“There!” Jordan said as a pedestal got knocked over on the other side of the room. He ran in the direction of the movement. 

“Jordan, wait!” Harry said, running after him. 

They ran into a dark room. A small girl of about 11 was crouched in the corner. She had a small cut on her forehead. She curled up in a ball, whimpering in the corner. She looked at the two men and began to cry. 

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Harry said, crouching down next to her. “We’re not going to hurt you. My name’s Harry. This is my friend Jordan. Perhaps you’d like to tell us your name?”

She looked at them hesitantly, not certain whether to trust them. “Cassie,” she whispered.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Cassie,” Harry said, smiling at her. 

“I don’t understand,” Cassie said, speaking just above a whisper. “Why aren’t you frozen like everyone else?”

“We were hoping you might be able to tell us,” Harry said, gently.

Cassie looked away from Harry. “I don’t know.”

Jordan sat down next to Cassie and looked at her with a serious stare. “See, I think you do,” he said. “I think you should tell us what’s going right now. It’s the only way we’re going to be able to help you.” 

“Jordan, what are you doing?” Harry asked, confused.

Jordan pulled out the magic detector, turned it on, and pointed it at Cassie. It began to light up and beep loudly.

“Cassie, are you a witch?” Harry asked. 

Cassie looked around quickly, preparing to run away again.

“No, no, no,” Harry said, gently placing his hand on her arm. “It’s okay. I’m a Whitelighter. I protect witches. May I?” He put his hand near Cassie’s head and healed her wound. “There, you’re all better now.”

She relaxed a bit and looked at the two men. “I didn’t mean to freeze everyone. It was an accident.”

“Wait, you did this?” Harry asked. “That’s some very powerful magic.” 

“I was going to meet my dad after school. This van pulled up. A man jumped out and grabbed me. I screamed at him to stop. And he did, but so did everything else. I got in the van and tried to drive away, but driving is harder than it looks,” she said, looking ashamed.

“Did the man freeze in place, too?” Harry asked. Cassie nodded. “Do you remember where he is? Can you take me to him?” She nodded again. 

* * *

In the Command Center, Mel continued to try and break through the forcefield by ramming her shoulder into it.

“You’re going to hurt yourself,” Maggie said, irritated. “We don’t have any powers to fix you. And Harry’s a little busy at the moment.” 

Macy walked back over to the Book of Elders. “There has to be something in here on how to fix the Command Center.” Maggie and Mel followed behind her. They all reached out and touched the Book at the same time. The book opened up and new pages began to sprout out of the center.

“Uh, what was that?” Maggie asked. “It’s never done that before.”

“The three of us have never touched it at the same time before,” Macy realized. “It’s trying to tell us something.” She looked up towards the witchboard. “Alright Elders, what are we supposed to do now? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Hello?”

“Greetings,” a voice said from above.

“Hello?” Macy said, excited.

“Greetings,” the voice responded.

“Yeah, hi,” Macy said. “We got that part covered. Who are you?”

“I am not.” 

“Not what?” Mel asked, not wanting to mess with any of the Elders’ head games. Her shoulder was killing her. She was exhausted after a long night with not enough sleep. She just wanted to go home.

“A who,” the voice responded.

“Okay,” Maggie said slowly. “Then what are you?” 

“A guardian,” the voice chirped.

“A guardian of what?” Maggie asked, confused.

“That information is restricted,” the voice responded. 

“Restricted to whom?” Mel asked, rolling her eyes.

“Those with access.” 

“Oh, my God,” Mel said. If she could punch this voice in the face, she would do that.

“Of course, the Elders would leave freaking magical Siri behind to guard their secrets,” Maggie said under her breath.

“Excuse me, Guardian,” Macy said, taking over for her sisters. “Do you know how to lift the lockdown?”

“Yes,” the voice responded.

Macy smiled, letting out a nervous chuckle. “Great! Can you tell us how?”

“No,” the voice said. Macy could have sworn she heard a laugh in the voice, but she may have been projecting her irritation onto it.

“Why not?” Macy asked, frustration setting in.

“That information is restricted. You have five questions remaining.” 

“There’s a limit? Are you serious?” Maggie yelled. 

“Yes, you have three questions remaining.” 

“Maggie, shut up!” Macy yelled. 

Mel walked back over to the Book and looked at the new pages again. There were lists of names. All groups of three women with the same last names. The last name was always written in red. “Listen to this, when the way of the Charmed Ones is blocked, speak the unspoken and all shall be unlocked.” 

“Speak the unspoken?” Maggie asked. 

“Like a password?” Macy theorized.

“Or a test, like in the astral plane,” Mel offered. 

Maggie shook her head, looking around. “No, when we tried to dig our way to the black amber, the most powerful substance known to magic, the command center locked down to protect it,” she realized. “We have to prove we don’t have evil intentions by speaking the unspoken. Like secrets.”

“Great, so we have to spill our guts to get out of here?” Mel snarked.

“Correct,” the Guardian said. “Just as before.”

“But we’ve never done this before,” Mel said, increasingly frustrated. 

“No, but Mel, this is our symbol,” Macy realized. “I don’t think we’re the first Charmed Ones. These are all groups of three names with the same last name.” 

“But why wouldn’t anyone tell us before now?” Mel said, irritated. “Why wouldn’t Harry have told us this before now? And what happened to the other Charmed Ones?” 

“I’m sorry,” the Guardian offered. “Question limit exceeded. Security measures activated.”

“Mel, what the fuck?” Maggie yelled. 

Laser beams shot out of the ceiling, walls and floor. They joined together in a box around the sisters. Everything that came into contact with the beams was incinerated on impact. Macy tossed a book against the edge, just to see what would happen. It burst into flame. “Shit,” she said.

“We better start speaking the unspoken and fast,” Maggie said, panicking. 

* * *

Cassie took Harry and Jordan to the spot where she had frozen the two men. One man stood lurched forward with Cassie’s purple backpack in his grasp. The other man stood frozen a few steps behind him. Harry didn’t recognize either of the men. “Here they are,” Cassie said, nervously.

Jordan looked around and took in the frozen town. “So, this was really all you?” he said.

Cassie nodded, embarrassed.

“That’s awesome,” he told her with a smile on his face. “How’d you learn to do all this? How to use your powers?”

“My mom,” Cassie said, starting to relax now that she knew she wasn’t in trouble. “She taught me before she died. I just didn’t know I could do all this. It kinda happened.”

Jordan crouched down so he was at Cassie’s eye level. “It must have been pretty scary when those men jumped out at you. Sometimes, we don’t know what we’re really capable of until we’re the most scared. It’s called fight or flight. And kid, you seem like a helluva fighter.” He put up a fist for her to bump. 

“Jordan, come here,” Harry said. Jordan walked over and Harry pushed up the sleeve of one of the frozen men. “This tattoo look familiar?”

“That’s the exact same symbol on the magic artifact buyer Maggie and I met in New Orleans,” Jordan nodded. 

Harry turned to look at Cassie. “Did these men say anything to you? Any clue as to who they were or what they wanted?” 

Cassie stopped, trying to wrack her brain. “Extraction. That’s the word they used.” 

A black SUV came squealing around the corner. Jordan looked to Harry. “It’s a trap,” he said. “We gotta run.” Harry grabbed the other two and orbed them away. They went back to the museum where they had started. 

Harry leaned in to speak to Jordan, trying to speak softly enough Cassie could not hear them. “Jordan, you need to stay here with Cassie. Do not follow me, under any circumstances. Do you understand?” 

“Got it. Protect Cassie,” he agreed.

Harry leaned down to look Cassie in the eye. “I need you to stay right here. Do not run away. Jordan is going to keep you safe, but you must stay right here. Can you do that for me, Cassie?”

“I’m scared,” she whimpered.

“I know you are,” he agreed. “But we’re going to make sure you stay safe.”

“Can Jordan take me to my dad?” she asked. “He’s in the other room.” 

“For now, you need to stay put,” Harry told her. “But as soon as it’s safe, we’ll get you to your father.” He stood back up and motioned to Jordan. “Do not move from here.” 

“You got this, man?” Jordan asked. 

“Yeah, I got this,” he said. He did not feel like he had this at all, but he would do whatever he needed to do in order to protect Cassie. This was, after all, his purpose in life. 

* * *

The sisters remained trapped in the laser box. Each of them were panicking, trying to figure out what secrets needed to be divulged.

“Um, sophomore year, I borrowed your favorite crop top and I accidentally ripped it and threw it out,” Maggie yelled to Mel.

“The army green one? I knew it! Fine, um I was the one who told mom you were sneaking out to see Brian,” Mel yelled back. 

The lasers moved closer. Maggie screamed as another book burst into flames. 

“Guys, I don’t think they care about stolen clothes or teenage antics!” Macy said. 

“Fine, then you say something! You’re the one who never tells us anything,” Mel yelled back, frustrated. “Maggie and I barely have any secrets between us. You’re the one who keeps everything from us! You always have. You just decide you have to go it alone because you always have in the past. But if you would just fucking let us in, we could help you!” 

“I don’t mean to,” Macy yelled, exasperated. “I wasn’t raised in a house where we talked about our feelings. I love my dad, don’t get me wrong. He was the best dad in the world, but he was not the touchy-feely type. I can’t just start spilling years’ worth of secrets. I don’t know how to do that.” 

“Okay, what if we tried asking you questions?” Maggie said, eying the lasers moving closer. “Like a test. You like tests.” 

“Um yeah, we could try that,” Macy said, nodding. “I can answer questions.” 

“Why didn’t you ever tell us about Harry?” Maggie asked, stepping closer to her older sister. “We’re your sisters. We would have been happy for you guys. Or we could have helped you figure out your feelings. I told you guys about everything with Parker.”

“And I told you about everything with Niko,” Mel added. “I wouldn’t have made it through losing her without the two of you.” 

Macy paused for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. She knew she should have told them from the beginning. “Telling the two of you would have made it real,” she admitted. “If I let you two in, that meant I would have had to let Harry in, too. Once the two of you knew, there was no going back. And that terrifies me. Because as long as it was just him and me, I still had an out. I knew if I told him to just forget about it, he would do that because he’s Harry and he would never push me into something I wasn’t ready for. But the two of you would call me on my bluff. You’ve been calling me out since you found out about him.” 

“But why is it a bad thing if the two of you are together? Doesn’t he make you happy?” Maggie asked, confused.

“Of course he does,” Macy said. “He knows me better than anyone. He’s the easiest person in the world to talk to. And he loves me so much.”

“And do you love him?” Mel asked.

Macy pulled her arms around herself, trying to make herself as compact as possible. She wanted to curl up in the corner and hide from the world. Her stomach fluttered with nerves as she fought the urge to keep all her secrets submerged within her.

“Macy, just tell the truth,” Maggie pushed her. “If for no other reason than lying might get us sliced up by lasers right now.”

“Okay!” Macy yelled. Once she opened the floodgates, there was no stopping her train of thought. “Yes, I love him so fucking much and that’s terrifying. I’ve never had a serious relationship. Galvin was the closest I ever got and we were barely together. As soon as we had an obstacle, we broke up. And then he died. And as much as I liked Galvin, it was nothing compared to what I feel for Harry. I know I will fuck things up. I don’t know how to do this. And what happens then? He’s so intertwined in our lives. When I fuck things up, will the two of you lose him? Will that make the two of you start to resent me because I lost us our Whitelighter? Or will you pick him over me? I mean, I have no powers right now. I’m awkward. I don’t know how to be someone’s sister. You’ve known us the same amount of time. If I had to pick between me and Harry, I’d pick him in a heartbeat.”

“Macy, stop,” Mel said, reaching for her sister’s arm. “You don’t have powers right now, but you’re going to get them back. And besides, you’re so much more than your powers. You’re our big sister. Even though we’ve only known you for a little while, I can’t imagine our lives without you in it. How could you think we’d pick anyone over you?” 

“And you’re so determined things won’t work out with Harry. Have you ever stopped to consider it could work?” Maggie said. 

“That’s almost more terrifying,” Macy said, her eyes shut, not wanting to look at the expressions on her sisters’ faces. “I know what our friendship looks like. But I have no idea what a romantic relationship looks like. I don’t know how to do this.” She finally opened her eyes again, looking at her sisters with a pleading glance. 

“That’s why you have us,” Maggie said, putting her hand on Macy’s forearm. “So, when you’re freaking out, we can calm you down. And besides, a romantic relationship with Harry doesn’t have to look that different. You guys are already so close to each other. Way closer than Mel or I are with him. Don’t get me wrong, I love Harry, but the two of you are inseparable. You’ve always gravitated more to him. Now, you guys can just have sex with each other instead of sitting and watching your weird 90s vampire show. And based on your diary, the sex is pretty good,” she said, slightly joking. 

“It’s fucking amazing,” Macy sighed. “Like I didn’t know sex could be that level of good in real life.” She paused and looked at her sisters. “Okay, I need someone else to go now.” 

“Fine, um, I had sex with Ruby last night,” Mel offered.

“We know! You left with her and you’re wearing the same clothes you wore yesterday,” Macy responded. “That’s not a secret.” 

“I had sex with Jordan last night,” Maggie blurted out. “And I felt like I was cheating on Parker, but I know that doesn’t make sense because he’s dead. And I know marrying Parker would have been a mistake, but I just wanted the version of Parker I fell in love with last year. The one who was kind and would have done anything to protect me. And I felt guilty the entire time I was with Jordan because I feel so responsible for Parker’s death.” 

Macy looked at her little sister. She had to tell her. She meant to tell her before this, but there hadn’t been an opportunity. “Parker’s alive,” she said, almost whispering. 

“What?” Maggie yelled, pulling her hand back from Macy’s arm as if it had burned her. “How long have you known?” 

“Only since yesterday when I went to Abigael. I swear, I was going to tell you. Parker gave me a letter to give to you, but then you seemed so happy to have a night out with Jordan and I didn’t want to be the one to take that happiness from you, so I just didn’t tell you,” Macy rambled. 

“Any other major things anyone needs to tell me?” Maggie said, irritated. 

“Dad knew you weren’t his biological daughter,” Mel blurted out.

“Why wouldn’t he tell me that?” Maggie said, hurt. 

“Maybe it didn’t matter to him,” Macy said. “And isn’t that kind of beautiful? Even though you weren’t his biologically, he claimed you as his own. Or maybe he wanted to protect you from more heartbreak. I should have told you about Parker as soon as I found out. I’m sorry.”

“I was so relieved when Parker died,” Maggie said quietly. “I felt like I was finally free from him. He turned into such a monster, but I kept holding onto that last shred of his humanity. I was so convinced I could be the one to save him from himself. And then when he showed that he was past redemption, I just wanted him to be gone forever. It was so much easier than having to deal with the thought that he was just beyond saving. That makes me such a horrible person.” 

A portion of the Charmed Ones symbol lit up on the wall. “Wait, that’s it!” Maggie yelled. “It’s not the secrets we’re keeping from each other. It wants the things we aren’t even admitting to ourselves.” 

“Speak the unspoken,” Macy whispered. She looked over at Mel, trying to figure out which one of them was going to go first.

“I hate being the responsible one,” Mel said, sighing. “I hated being the one to take on everything with the magical communities over the summer, but I only did it because neither of you wanted to do it. Maggie, you had your sorority. And Macy, you had your job at the lab. But I feel like I don’t have an identity outside of being a witch. I feel pushed into this corner and I just want out of it. I want to figure out who I am.” 

She looked up at the wall and another piece of the symbol lit up. The younger sisters looked to Macy. 

“Sometimes I wish I had never come to Hilltowne,” Macy said, looking away from her sisters. “I used to have a life. I used to have ambitions and dreams outside of being a witch. I miss working in a lab. I’ve felt so aimless since we got sent here. And I’m trying so hard to be a part of our trio, but I miss having my life to myself. You two have this whole lifetime of memories. And I don’t. Sometimes, I just want to go back to my own little life when I was by myself.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at her sisters, so she looked up at the wall. The symbol finished lighting up and the lasers dropped around them. 

“Lockdown disabled,” the voice said. “Access granted.” The sisters looked at the wall where the symbol had been illuminated. A door formed and then swung open. They looked at each other and stepped through. 

* * *

Harry stepped outside in front of the museum. Five men climbed out of the SUV. They pulled out dart guns and loaded them with vials of the Darklighter’s poison. 

“We’re just here for the girl,” one of them yelled. 

“Well, you’re not getting her,” Harry yelled back, steel in his voice. 

“This is your last warning,” the same man yelled. “We’ll do what we have to do.”

“So will I,” Harry said. 

The men fired the vials in Harry’s direction. Harry put his hand out to stop the darts in their path and threw them to the ground. He froze the men in place. He walked over to each of them, wiped their memories of any knowledge of magic, and orbed them away. He considered killing them, wanting them to suffer the way they had made countless other magical creatures suffer, the way they surely would have made Cassie suffer. But he decided he couldn’t do that. If he just took away their knowledge of magic, maybe that would keep Cassie and the others safe. 

Harry took a deep breath and walked back towards the museum. Jordan and Cassie were waiting inside. 

“What did you do to them?” Cassie asked hesitantly. 

“That’s not important,” Harry said, leaning down to her height. “You’re safe from them now, though. They aren’t going to be coming for you anytime soon.” 

Cassie nodded as if that was good enough for her right now. 

“Now, would you like me to show you how to unfreeze things?” Harry asked, smiling at the young girl.

She nodded. 

“Let’s go then,” Harry said, grabbing her hand. 

Cassie led the two men back to where she was when time stopped. Harry explained to her how important it was to be in the exact spot where she had been last. 

Harry kneeled down on the ground next to the young girl. He looked at her and made sure she was ready. She smiled and nodded, excited to learn how to harness her powers.

“Reach your hand out like this,” Harry said, showing her how to place her hand. “Close your eyes and listen for them. For their energy. Feel their hearts beating. Hear their breathing. Hold them right there in your hand.” He gently closed her hand into a fist and put his hand around hers. He opened his hand. “Now, just let them go.” Cassie took a deep breath, exhaled and opened her hand. The world began to move around them again. 

She looked at him, excited. “I did it! I really did it!” she said. 

“Well done,” Harry said, approvingly. “Can we see you back to your father?”

“No, I got it from here,” she said. “I’ll be alright.” She reached over and hugged the two men. 

“I wrote down my number for you,” Harry said, handing her a card. “If you have any trouble at all, don’t hesitate to reach out.”

“Good luck, kid,” Jordan said. “Just remember, you got this. Be a fighter.” He gave her a quick fist bump. 

She nodded and waved goodbye to her new friends. 

“Well, what’s up next, teach?” Jordan asked. “Doesn’t look like your evil twin is going to show his face around here.”

“It would appear not,” Harry said, slightly irritated. He was relieved to have been able to help Cassie, but he was no closer to getting rid of his Darklighter. “Now, we head home. Come on, I’ll buy us some lunch. We can discuss your training schedule.” 

“Wait, seriously?” Jordan said, excitedly. 

“Seriously,” Harry nodded. “I could use an assistant.” 

* * *

The sisters stepped through the door into another room of the Command Center. A giant glowing tree was lit in front of them.

“It’s the tree from the Book of Elders,” Mel realized.

“It’s beautiful,” Macy said. She stopped down to pick up a leaf that had fallen on the ground. “It glows the same green as the Darklighter’s poison.”

“And the stuff from that rave,” Maggie realized. 

“It’s the source of the black amber,” Macy said. She looked up and saw a blue goblet sitting on a pedestal. She walked over to it and looked inside to see it was filled with a liquid. “What if this is a power source, like the Sacred Grove, where ley lines intersect? And it’s the answer to getting my power back.”

As she picked up the goblet, she heard another voice tell her to stop. 

“What now?” Maggie asked. 

A woman came into sight in front of them. She was dressed in flowing white robes and was backlit by a heavenly purple halo. “I’m here to help,” she said. “So you don’t make the same mistakes we did.”

“We?” Macy asked, confused.

“My sisters and I,” the woman said. She uncrossed her arms and revealed a belt with the Charmed Ones symbol woven into it. 

“You’re a Charmed One,” Maggie realized. 

“I was a Charmed One, yes,” the woman said. 

“You died?” Macy asked. “Because you were a Charmed One?”

“No,” the Guardian sighed. “Because of the Power of Three. Since the dawn of time, the Power of Three has come to sisters of great promise in times of great need, to save the world from its own destruction. But the power is too great. No matter the time, the place, or the realm, it always ends the same.”

“How does it end?” Maggie asked, scared.

The Guardian looked at each of them. “With the destruction of the sisterhood.”

“What do you mean?” Mel asked, looking at each of her sisters. 

“One of you will die,” the Guardian said gently. 

“If it always ends this way, then why all the tests? The truth telling? The questions?” Mel asked, angrily.

“Hope. That someday a sisterhood will come along that is strong enough to break that cycle. The Power of Three can set you free. Or it can weigh you down. There can be no secrets, no resentments, nothing unspoken. Or it will destroy you,” the Guardian said, her gaze landing on Macy.

Macy pointed at the goblet in front of her. “If I drink that, will I get my power back?” she asked softly. 

The Guardian nodded. 

“And the power of three?” Macy asked hopefully.

“That is a separate journey,” the Guardian said. “The sisterhood is being tested. You must discover who you are separately before you can come back together.”

“Is this our destiny?” Maggie asked, scared. “To end up like you?”

“My destiny is to guard the past and protect the future. Your destiny is yet to be written,” the Guardian said. “It is your own. Good luck, Charmed Ones.” She smiled at each of them and evaporated back into the leaves of the trees.

The sisters walked back into the Command Center and sat down together. 

“Would it be worth it?” Macy asked. “Knowing what we know now? If I never get my powers back, we never have to worry about the Power of Three destroying us.”

“So what, we just wait for trouble to blow through the door?” Maggie asked. “No, I’m all in.” 

“Me too,” Mel said. “But Macy, this is your decision.” 

“Do you think we can do this? So many others before us have failed,” Macy said, not at all certain. 

“Look at everything we’ve survived together,” Maggie said. “Look at everything you’ve survived, Macy. You took on the Source of all Evil and you lived. You survived everything with the Darklighter. If anyone can do it, it’s us. As long as we have each other.” 

“It’s fine if you need time to think about it,” Mel said, reaching out to hold Macy’s hand. 

Macy looked at her sisters. She thought back on everything they had been through since becoming the Charmed Ones. All the demons they had fought and the sisterly squabbling from adjusting to their new relationship. The way she felt when they found her after her kidnapping. The belief she wouldn’t have survived if not for them. A sense of peace came over her as she made her decision. “No, we’re a trio. If you two are on board, then so am I. I’ll do it. But then we need to go home and talk. I need Harry for this next part, though. If we can’t have any secrets between us, I need to finally tell you guys what happened with the Darklighter. All of it.” 

Macy went back into the room with the tree. She looked to her sisters before picking up the goblet to drink from it. “To breaking the cycle?” she questioned. “To breaking the cycle,” each of her sisters responded. She took a quick sip of the liquid and set the goblet back down. 

“Did it work?” Maggie asked, hopefully. 

Macy put her hands out in front of her and focused her energy. A gust of wind shook the branches of the trees and a flood of leaves spun around her. “It worked,” she whispered. 

* * *

Harry sat in the attic, thinking about that morning. The Darklighter took him to Maine for a reason. He just needed to figure out what it was. He reached into the cabinet where he kept the vial of the Darklighter’s poison. He needed to summon him back again. He poured the poison into a small container and leaned over to sniff it.

He found himself on a dark island. Jimmy walked out in his direction. “Welcome to my mind, Harry. I knew you’d find the way. Enjoy your trip? Maine is lovely this time of year, isn’t it?”

“Cut the shit, Jimmy,” Harry said. “What do you want?”

“For you to understand what’s really going on,” Jimmy responded. 

“I already knew you and your sycophants were kidnapping magical creatures,” Harry sneered. 

“Ah, but you don’t know why. I think you’ll find you do know, though. You just have to put it all together,” Jimmy said.

Harry thought back to everything he had seen so far. The magic detector. The creatures being kept in tubes. Extraction. It all made sense. “You’re extracting magic,” he breathed.

“I knew you’d get there eventually,” Jimmy said, sarcastically clapping. “Except I’m not doing it. You know whoever has the talisman controls my fate. You asked me what I want. I want out.”

“After everything you did to Macy, why would I ever help you?” Harry asked. 

“Because I know what’s coming. And if you want any chance of stopping it, you need to set me free,” Jimmy said. He walked over and shoved Harry out of his mind. 

Harry jolted back awake in the attic. He heard the slam of the door from downstairs. He needed to go see the sisters. He needed to see Macy. After everything that happened today, he needed her calming presence.

“Harry!” he heard Macy yell. “Harry!”

He orbed to her side immediately. “I’m right here.” He looked to the other two sisters. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a day of it. I’ll make dinner while you fill me in on the events of your day?” He started to walk toward the kitchen.

“Dinner can wait,” Macy said, reaching out to stop him. “I got my powers back.” 

“Macy, that’s great!” Harry said, pulling her in for a hug. “How did you do it?”

“That is such a long story,” she said, laughing. “But there’s still one major thing stopping the Power of Three from returning. There can’t be any secrets between us,” she sighed. She reached out and grabbed Harry’s hand, looking into his eyes. “I need to tell you all about my time with the Darklighter.”

“Macy, are you certain?” he asked, worriedly. “You know you don’t owe us any sort of an explanation.”

“I know,” she nodded. “But I have to let go of it. Keeping it to myself is going to weigh me down. I need you all to know. I’m only telling it once, though, so let’s go sit down.”

Macy led her sisters and Harry into the living room. Maggie and Mel sat on either side of her with Harry in the chair just off to the side. Macy took a deep breath.

“Okay, so I knew going back to the warehouse that it was Jimmy,” she said, her voice shaking. “As soon as he wouldn’t give me our code word and he only wanted to orb me out, I knew something was off.” She looked at Harry, silently pleading with him to understand. “You never would have taken just me out of there. You would never have left behind Mel and Maggie. But I felt like fighting back against him then would have put the rest of you in danger.” 

“It’s okay,” Mel said. “No one blames you for leaving with him. He already had you at that point.” 

Macy nodded and took in a shaky breath. “I don’t remember landing back in his apartment. I was unconscious most of the time. I, um, I think he had drugged me. Every now and then, I would start to wake up,” she said, her voice cracking. She thought back to the fear she felt. The way her skin crawled at his touch. Bile rose up in the back of her throat. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “He was always lying in bed with me. I could feel his hands running along my sides. Or he would play with my hair. He kissed my neck once. I heard him tell me how amazing I felt. But I just couldn’t wake up. I kept trying, but I couldn’t do it.” She looked over at Harry, as if trying to convince him she didn’t want Jimmy touching her. 

He clenched his jaw. The thought of Jimmy’s hands on her body made him want to vomit. The thought of anyone touching Macy without her consent made him murderous. “It’s okay, love. We’ve got you. You don’t have to keep going if you don’t want to,” he said, moving closer to the edge of the chair. He wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her against his chest. He needed to prove to the both of them that she was safe. 

Macy shook her head. “No, please, I need to get this out. That night before you guys showed up was the first time I had woken up. He glamoured his apartment to look like our house.” 

“That’s why it took you so long to leave your room when you got home,” Maggie breathed out. 

“Exactly. Everything here still felt like I was back there,” Macy nodded.

She took a deep breath and continued. “I woke up and started calling for Harry, but he had something blocking our connection, blocking my powers. I walked into the kitchen and he was in there cooking dinner. He came over and kissed me. My skin felt like it was going to crawl off my body. He had pulled out a nice bottle of wine and said he wanted to spend the night together, just the two of us. He asked me to go put on the red dress he liked so much,” she said, looking at Harry. At the mention of the dress, he winced in pain, the thought of his attraction being used against her. “My powers weren’t working. Harry couldn’t hear me. So, I just went along with anything he asked of me,” she said, her voice cracking. 

Mel put her arm around her sister. “It’s okay. You were trying to survive.”

“I figured out that he really liked to talk about himself. So, I kept asking him to tell me stories of people he had saved. Then he asked me to dance. He kept running his hands along my body. I wanted to push him away, but I knew he had the upper hand,” Macy said, tears starting to roll down her face. 

Maggie put her head on Macy’s shoulder and put her arms around her. “You’re not there anymore. We’ve got you.” 

“So, I excused myself upstairs. I tried to break out of the window, but he found me. That’s when he realized I knew he wasn’t Harry. He told me to go ahead and call the three of you, but I knew he was trying to trap us. That’s when he uncloaked his apartment. He tied my hands and told me how much fun we could have because he already knew what I liked,” she looked at Harry, knowing that part would hurt him as much as it had hurt her. She could see the rage in his eyes. 

“Because he shared my memories,” Harry said, disgusted that such an intimate moment had been used against Macy. 

Macy nodded. “I asked him what it would take to keep the two of you safe.” She looked at her sisters, wanting to save them from the knowledge of what came next, but knowing she needed to tell her story completely. 

“Macy,” Maggie said, her eyes tearing up. “No.” 

“I said I could get him someone more powerful than the three of us. I said I could get him Abigael, if he would leave the two of you alone. He said he would take Abigael, but he still wanted me.” The tears were streaming down Macy’s face now. She looked over at Harry. “He said if I would spend one night with him and let him do all the things you had done to me, he would let me go the next morning. I was so scared. I didn’t want to, but I figured it was only one night and he would let me go a few hours later, so I said yes.” 

Harry’s heart sank to his stomach. He couldn’t imagine how terrified Macy must have been in that moment. “Macy, love, you did what anyone would have done.” 

“He had just left to get drinks for us when you orbed in to get me,” Macy said. “So, nothing really happened, but I was already preparing myself for it.”

“Mace,” Mel sighed. “Just because he didn’t rape you, it doesn’t mean nothing happened. He violated you in so many ways. Don’t minimize what you experienced just because it could have been worse.”

“I just felt so stupid and so helpless,” Macy sobbed. “It’s like I was frozen, so I just kept going along with what he wanted. I should have fought back harder.”

Harry moved over to sit on the coffee table in front of Macy. He needed to be closer to her. He put his hand over hers and began to caress the back of her hand with his thumb. “Love, you did fight back. You may not see it, but every moment you were there, you were fighting. You were fighting to survive.” 

Macy continued to sob, the weight of the experience slowly being lifted from her shoulders. She leaned her head against Maggie’s shoulder. “I was so scared. I thought I was going to die.” 

Harry watched as she began to sob harder. He squeezed her hand between his. His tears poured from his face. He didn’t know when he had started crying, but his heart was breaking for everything she had experienced. “I know, love. I know.” He was glad he had already met with Jimmy today. If he went to find him now, he would have killed him, regardless of what it did to him in the process. 

The sisters and Harry sat there together and cried. Macy, reliving the terror she had experienced. Harry, wanting to take away the pain his beloved had gone through. Mel and Maggie, the guilt over what their sister was willing to do for their own safety. After a while, all of the tears slowed down. 

Macy sat up and looked at her family. “So, that was everything,” she sighed. “I’m sorry it took me so long to tell you.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Maggie said. “We’re all just glad you’re safe now.” 

Mel nodded in agreement. “What do you need from us now?” 

Macy took a moment to think. She felt like she needed a long bath, to wash away the feeling of the whole experience. She needed her bed. “I kind of just want to go to sleep, honestly. That was exhausting.”

“Of course, love,” Harry said, still caressing the back of her hand. “Whatever you need.” The two looked into each other’s eyes. 

“I think we’re going to go upstairs now,” Maggie said, reaching for Mel. “Give you two some time together.” 

Once they were alone, Harry moved to sit next to Macy. He wanted to wrap her in his arms, but he was filled with an overwhelming sense of guilt. “I’m so sorry,” he said, quietly. “If it hadn’t been for me, none of that ever would have happened. It was all because of how I feel for you that he even took you.”

“Stop, Harry,” Macy said, shaking her head. “It wasn’t your fault. And don’t forget, you’re the one who was able to orb in and save me.” She leaned her head against his shoulder. “It’s over now.” 

“You’re safe,” he reassured her. 

“Harry?” she asked quietly. 

“Yes?” 

“Will you hold me for a while? I just want you to hold me until I fall asleep. I need to replace the memory of his hands on me.” 

“Of course, love,” he opened his arms to her and pulled her close to his chest. He breathed in her smell and it instantly filled him with a sense of calm. 

“Harry, there’s one other secret I need to tell you,” she whispered.

“What is that?” he asked.

“Back when I was the Source, I could hear your thoughts and I heard you say you were in love with me,” she said, looking up at him.

“Okay?” he said, his brow furrowed with confusion as to why she thought he would be upset.

“So, when we had sex, I already knew how you felt for me,” she said, guiltily. 

“Macy, I don’t care,” he said, reassuring her. “You weren’t doing anything to manipulate me. You didn’t have bad intentions. I would have told you one day anyway. I’m certain of it.” 

She looked into his eyes. “So, you aren’t mad I knew?”

“I could never be mad at you for that, love,” he said. 

He held her in his arms and thought about his own secret about Abigael. He wanted to tell her the truth, that he had never had sex with the Overlord. And he would, but tonight was about Macy. Tonight, he was going to keep her in his arms until she fell asleep. He was going to hold her close and make certain she stayed safe from any danger. 

Once he was certain she was asleep, he carried her to her bed and laid her down. He put a blanket over her and kissed her forehead, thankful she was safe at home. As he walked out of her room, he was certain he heard her say she loved him. He smiled to himself, hopeful she would say it one day when she wasn’t half asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't had a chance, check out the Secret Santa story I posted last Wednesday. It's called "Dancing in the Moonlight." It's just straight-up fluff, so it can be a nice antidote to the heaviness of this chapter. 
> 
> I'll be back Wednesday with chapter fifteen. 
> 
> Any comments or kudos are always appreciated!


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Sudden Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Mel set out to try and recapture the Darklighter. Macy tries to come up with a way to sever Harry and Jimmy's connection. Maggie and Jordan try to figure out how to help the Charmed Ones regain the Power of Three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the first Wednesday update! If you haven't read chapter 14 which was posted on Sunday, make sure to read that one first! The rest of the story is nothing but long chapters, so settle in for a while. This chapter is 30 pages long, making it one of the shorter ones. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who commented and left kudos on the last chapter. It is always greatly appreciated. 
> 
> As always, a massive thank you to my wonderful beta katasstropheee. If you haven't checked out her work, you should definitely do that. 
> 
> Some dialogue borrowed from 2x14: Sudden Death.

Macy felt lighter since telling her sisters and Harry the truth about her time with the Darklighter. She had been holding on to the stress of that experience for so long. She was so scared her sisters would be disappointed in her for not fighting back harder. She was terrified Harry would be disgusted with her for playing along with the Darklighter’s desires. Telling them the truth and knowing they still loved her brought a sense of relief. She was able to sleep easier at night. Her shoulders were less tense. The constant knot in her stomach dissipated. She smiled more freely. 

It also meant her romantic feelings for Harry were stirring back up. It felt like a switch had flipped and she could feel desire again. She noticed him looking at her when he thought she wasn’t paying attention. When she would hand him things in the kitchen or the Command Center, her fingers would linger for just a moment against his. She started having dreams about him again. Just as before, they started out innocent. Over the past two nights, they had increased to thoughts of the night of Jordan’s party and what could have happened if Maggie hadn’t called them for help. 

She wanted to talk to Harry about her feelings, but she was also enjoying the feeling of having her best friend back in her life. They would get there eventually. For now, there were more pressing matters to attend to than the fact she consistently wanted to drag him to her bed.

Since meeting the Guardian, the sisters spent at least a portion of every night together trying to strengthen their relationship. They made dinner together and talked about their days. Harry would typically join them for dinner and then leave them alone for the rest of the night. Macy had come to look forward to the daily sister bonding time, savoring the quiet domesticity that had been missing from their lives since they left Hilltowne. After talking for a while, the sisters would set up their ritual in the backyard to try and bring back the Power of Three. So far, they had been able to get some electricity going through their hands, but nothing had completely returned the power. 

“Tresitute potentiam trium,” the sisters chanted with their hands joined. A bolt of electricity went through their hands, but fizzled after about thirty seconds. 

“Damn it,” Macy sighed. She started going through the ritual in her mind, trying to figure out where they had gone wrong. “I just don’t understand. We’re doing every step of the ritual. Why isn’t it working? Maybe Harry can help us. Harry!”

Harry sat in the attic, trying to reopen the connection to his Darklighter. He hadn’t told the sisters about his most recent conversation with Jimmy. After everything Macy shared, he wanted to protect her from him as long as he could. Harry had fashioned an IV to insert the Darklighter’s poison directly into his veins, desperately trying to trigger the connection. He sat there and focused as the poison coursed through his arm. 

From a distance, he could hear Jimmy say, “I’m in trouble, Harry. I need your help.” As he heard Macy’s voice, he jolted back to consciousness. He carefully unhooked the IV and orbed to the backyard.

“There you are,” Macy said, walking over to him. “What took you so long?” 

“Apologies,” he said. “I was in the middle of something, so it took me a moment to get down here. How did the ritual go? Any progress with the Power of Three?”

“None,” Mel sighed. “It feels like we’re going backwards.”

“I still think Abby might have done something when she stripped Macy’s powers,” Maggie said, her arms crossed. 

“What if it’s for the best?” Macy said, nervously. “The Guardian said the Power of Three always ends in the destruction of the sisterhood. One of us will die. What if we just keep our powers, but we don’t get the Power of Three back? Couldn’t that be the best of both worlds?” 

“Yeah, but we’re not all the other sisters,” Maggie argued. “We’ve been through so much shit together. We can handle this.”

“You ladies are the three strongest women I have ever met,” Harry told them. He turned to Macy and reached for her hand. “If anyone can defeat this prophecy, I have faith it will be the three of you.” 

“I’m sure the other Charmed Ones were strong, too,” Macy said. “What if we’re not as special as we think we are?”

“Mace, we may not have a choice,” Mel said, gently. “It may be only a matter of time before the Darklighter tries to kidnap us again. I’d rather face him with the Power of Three than without it.” 

Macy sighed. “I guess you’re right. Maybe the Power of Three can help us recapture Jimmy.” She turned to Harry. “Have you been able to find out anything more about him?”

“I spoke with him the night after Jordan and I went to Maine,” Harry said, looking down and mumbling his answer. 

“What? Why didn’t you tell us?” Maggie asked, concerned.

“It was right before we all sat down together in the living room…” Harry trailed off.

“And you heard everything he did to me? And you were trying to protect me?” Macy said, her brow furrowed.

Harry sighed. “Yes, I didn’t want to upset you anymore.”

Macy pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. “Harry, what part of no secrets aren’t you getting? That doesn’t just apply to the three of us,” Macy said, motioning to her sisters. “You’re a part of this team, too. It’s more upsetting to know you have information that may help us. What did you find out?” 

“Of course,” he nodded, abashed. “Let’s go inside. I’ll fix us some tea.” They walked into the kitchen while Harry brewed tea for them all. 

“Quit stalling and tell us what’s going on,” Mel said, taking a drink.

“Fine,” he said. “This group has been kidnapping magical creatures in order to extract magic from them.” 

“So, it’s not just that they’re trying to reanimate the dead?” Maggie said. “They’re also trying to give them magic.”

“It would appear so, yes,” he said. “But I don’t think we will need to worry about the Darklighter coming after you.”

“Why not?” Macy asked, concerned. 

“Because I’ve been trying to make contact with him for the past several days and I’ve had no luck. Today, I only heard a whisper where he said he was in trouble.”

“But if he’s in trouble…” Macy trailed off, not wanting to think of the rest of that sentence.

“Then so am I,” he said, taking a sip of his tea and looking Macy in the eye. “He seemed desperate the last time I saw him. He told me we needed to work together and that he wanted out. Then he went completely silent. He’s gone.”

“Did you get anything from him? Any information at all?” Maggie asked, panicking. 

“A quick flash. A dead body and some strange number, but I don’t know what it meant,” he said, frustrated. 

“We’ll retrace his steps then,” Mel said. “It’s too late tonight, but first thing in the morning, we’ll get started. I’ll go with you and we’ll look for him.” 

He smiled sadly. He was far less hopeful than the sisters were. “Okay, first thing in the morning.”

“Harry, what happens if we can’t find him?” Maggie asked, scared. “How do we protect you?”

“We’ll figure out a way to sever the connection between the two of you,” Macy said. “If the Elders could sever their connection to you, then there has to be a way to break the connection between Whitelighters and Darklighters.”

“So, you and I will work on that tomorrow then,” Maggie said, relieved. She reached out for Harry’s hand. “Don’t worry, Har. Nothing is going to happen to you.”

“It sounds like we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow,” he said, gently squeezing Maggie’s hand in return. “We should all get a good night’s sleep tonight.”

Mel and Maggie went upstairs, leaving Harry and Macy sitting at the kitchen table together. 

“What are you really thinking?” she asked him. “Don’t worry about protecting me. Just tell me what you’re thinking. No secrets anymore, Harry, please.”

He sighed. “Truthfully, I don’t know. I want to kill Jimmy for everything he’s done to you. I’m furious that killing him would kill me. Then I wonder if that might be the easiest solution for everyone involved. Will you and your sisters really be safe as long as he is still alive?”

“Harry, no,” said, reaching for his hand. “I can tell you definitively that we are not safe in a world without you. We will find a way to break the connection between the two of you.”

“Macy, I don’t know how tomorrow is going to go,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m even going to make it to tomorrow, at this point.” 

“Don’t talk like that. Look,” she sighed, standing up. “I refuse to believe anything is going to happen to you, but if it does, I really don’t want to spend even a moment apart from you. Will you stay with me tonight?”

“Of course,” he said, standing up to join her. He put his arms around her and rested his cheek against her head. He felt relieved. Their relationship status was still in limbo, but he knew he wanted to spend every minute with her he could. “Come on, let’s go to bed.” 

He ran up to the attic while she changed into her pajamas. She didn’t know what she was doing. This was such a terrible idea. But he was right. There was a strong possibility each breath was his last. The thought of him being apart from her when that happened was excruciating. All she could picture was going to the attic to find him dead on his couch. If each moment could be their last, they were going to spend them together. She was lost in thought and didn’t hear him walk into the room. 

“Are you okay, Macy?” he asked. “I can go back upstairs, if you’d like.” 

“No, don’t be silly,” she said, smiling gently. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”

He laid down and put his arm out for her to lay against him. She curled up against his chest. “Harry?” she asked. 

“Yes, love,” he responded.

“Tonight isn’t going to be our last night together. I promise you that,” she said, tilting her head up to look at him. 

“Macy, that isn’t something you can promise,” he sighed. 

“You know how stubborn I am,” she challenged. “I am going to do everything within my power to protect you. You’ve protected me for so long. It’s time I return the favor.”

“That’s not how this is supposed to work, though. I’m supposed to protect you.” He put his arm around her and pulled her tighter to his chest. 

“Oh, Harry,” she laughed softly. “When have we ever done anything we’re supposed to do? You’re not bound to the Elders and their rules anymore. We get to write the rules of our own relationship now. That’s what makes this so great.” 

“I suppose that is true. It’s just been ingrained in me for so long. It’s hard to get past that,” he said, brushing his fingers through her hair absentmindedly. 

She put her head on his chest and listened to his soft breaths. Each one was a comforting reminder that he was still alive. He was still hers. She didn’t want to treat this as their last night together, but she also didn’t want to have any regrets. “Harry?” 

“Yes, love,” he said, still wide awake. He had complete faith in her determination to keep him alive. He was just less hopeful about the probability of that happening. Even though he was perfectly content doing nothing more than lying here with her in his arms, he would be lying if he said he didn’t want more with her. He wanted everything with her. 

She turned to look at him. “I don’t want to have any regrets.” 

His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I know you are absolutely going to survive, but I can’t help thinking I don’t want to have any regrets. I just, I don’t want you to think I’m only doing this because you might die.” She knew she wasn’t making any sense, but her brain was a massive jumble. She wanted to go and start researching how to save him. She wanted to lay in his arms and hold him close. She wanted to cry over the possibility of losing him. She just knew that if tonight was their last night, she didn’t want their last kiss to be the one after Jordan’s party, the one that was filled with anger and despair. She wanted a different memory to hold on to forever. 

“I’m not really following,” he said, confused. 

She leaned up and kissed him. She pressed herself into him as closely as she could. He opened his mouth to her and she deepened the kiss. He moved onto his side so he could press his entire body against hers. Her hands ran down his torso before settling on the small of his back. He lifted the hem of her tank top slightly and savored the feeling of her skin warm under his fingers. 

She poured her fears, her desires, her love into this kiss. Despite the fact this could be their last night, there was no rush. Every other kiss between them had been feverish, as if one of them would come to their senses and stop the other. This kiss, though, was slow and filled with promises. 

She pulled back and smiled gently. “See, you can’t die now. Because that can’t be the last time we get to do that. We’re getting really good at it.” 

He nodded, unable to speak. He leaned in and kissed her softly once more. Pulling back, he rested his forehead against hers and chuckled softly. “I already had a lot of motivation to live, but that certainly helped to give me a little more.” 

She brushed a lock of hair back from his forehead. “And as much as I want to continue this, it is getting late. And you need to be well-rested for tomorrow.”

“Agreed, love,” he said, running his fingers along her cheek. “I promise I will do everything I can to come back to you. And when I do, maybe we can continue this?” He didn’t want to pressure her into anything, but the feeling of her body pressed against him was intoxicating. He wanted to spend hours poring over her body, showing her exactly how much he adored her. 

“There’s a strong possibility of that happening,” she said, leaning in for one last lingering kiss. She turned over on her other side, pulling his arm to rest her body. He pressed his body against hers from behind and listened to her soft breaths as she drifted off to sleep. Once he was certain she was asleep, he got up. As much as he appreciated her optimism and determination, he needed to prepare a couple of things in case he didn’t come back tomorrow. 

He went to the attic and pulled out three pieces of paper. There were things he needed to say to each of his charges. If anything happened to him, he needed to be able to say goodbye to them. He began with the youngest sister. 

_ Dear Maggie, _

_ If you are reading this, it means I didn’t make it back home. There are so many things I want to say to you. Being your Whitelighter has been the greatest privilege of my life. You have come so far in the time I have known you. And you still have so far to go. Always trust in your powers. You have more than you have even come to realize. I know you’ve struggled with having more passive powers, but you have such strength in them. Your capabilities are boundless. Your heart and your endless capacity to love are some of your greatest traits. Trust yourself. Trust your judgment. You are an amazing young woman. One of my greatest regrets will be that I cannot be there to see the wonderful woman you will become.  _

_ Love always, Harry _

He took a deep breath. This was harder than he thought it would be. There were so many things he wanted to say to each of the sisters. The letters he was writing felt inadequate. He needed more time to really tell each of them how much they meant to him. He may not have that time, though. He continued. 

_ Dear Mel, _

_ If you are reading this, I did not make it back home. First and foremost, you need to hear this is not your fault. We may have been walking into a trap and didn’t even realize it. If I die, it is because it was meant to happen. There may be nothing anyone can do to avoid that. I know you are going to question everything that happened and try to figure out what you could have done differently. But please, learn to forgive yourself. You take on the weight of the world. You are a born leader, but you are harder on yourself than anyone else. From the moment we met, you have challenged me to be a better teacher. To be a better man. You are a force to be reckoned with and I wish I could be there to see how you will change the world. I know it will be for the better. It has been my greatest honor to be a part of your journey in even a small way. Trust in yourself. You can do anything as long as you have faith in yourself.  _

_ Love always, Harry _

And now for the final letter. The one that would never be long enough. The one that he knew would be the hardest to write. He closed his eyes and imagined her sitting in front of him.

_ My dearest Macy,  _

_ If you are reading this, I did not make it home. Please know that I fought for you. There is no world where I am not fighting to return home to you. There are no words to explain what I feel for you. I could write an entire novel and it would be inadequate. You are quite simply the most exquisite person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. In all of my lifetimes, you are my true love. You are my reason for existence. You have shown me what it means to truly love someone. While I was sick with that demon parasite, I envisioned a future with you. Stolen moments together. Our wedding day. Our future children. All I want is for those dreams to become a reality. You are the strongest and most fearless woman I have ever met. I am hopelessly, endlessly in love with you. I sincerely hope you will never read this letter and I will be able to tell you all of these things in person. If you are, though, know that I loved you until my dying day. Please don’t shut out your sisters in your pain. Remember that vulnerability is not a weakness. Trust in yourself, my love. I adore you, Macy Vaughn.  _

_ Yours always, Harry _

He stopped himself from continuing any further. He wanted to write pages to her with confessions of love, but it was nearly 1 am now and he really did need to sleep. He sealed the letters in envelopes and put them in the top drawer of his desk. He walked downstairs, climbed into bed next to Macy, and pulled her back into his arms. He softly pressed a kiss into the crook of her shoulder. He closed his eyes and sent a wish out into the universe that he would get to sleep next to her for years to come. 

* * *

The next morning, Harry and the Charmed Ones met in the Command Center to set about on their separate tasks. 

“Alright, so Harry and I are going to go find the Darklighter. Keep your phones on in case we need you,” Mel said. “But we’ll see you soon.”

“Maggie and I are scouring the Book of Elders for anything to uncouple you and the Darklighter,” Macy said. She was terrified, but didn’t want Harry to realize her fears. 

Maggie reached out and hugged the Whitelighter quickly. “Don’t worry, Har. We aren’t going to let you die.” 

He smiled sadly. “In my experience, death is not something you can will away.” 

“No, Harry,” Macy said. “We will see you soon. No matter what.” She put her arms around him and held him close, hoping it would not be the last time. “You’re coming home to us. To me,” she whispered in his ear. 

He held onto her, needing to feel her in his arms for just a moment longer. “I will do everything I can to come home to you.” They stood there with their foreheads pressed together, letting the world fade away for just a moment. In that second, the only thing that mattered was each other.

Mel and Maggie looked at each other, their eyebrows raised. It seemed there had been some developments in Harry and Macy’s relationship since the last time they spoke about it. Mel cleared her throat. “We have to get going.” 

“Right,” Harry said, letting go of Macy reluctantly. He put his arm out and orbed away with Mel.

Macy walked over to the Book of Elders and began to look through it for a severing spell.

“Oh, so you think we’re just not going to talk about that?” Maggie said, going over to her sister. “You and Harry were all over each other.”

“We were hugging each other,” she said, ignoring her sister’s pointed comments. 

“Mmm, no, I hugged Harry. The two of you were lingering in a passionate embrace,” she teased. “Now, come on, what gives? Where did you leave things with Harry? Is Hacy finally a go?” 

“Fine, we kissed again last night and we slept together,” she said, rolling her eyes. She was embarrassed to be sharing information with her younger sister, but they had agreed there were no secrets between them anymore. 

“What?” Maggie shrieked. 

“Not like that. Like we just literally slept together. If anything happened to him today, I didn’t want to have any regrets. So, we’re still just Harry and Macy. Two best friends who seem to make out with each other in times of high pressure. And maybe we’ll be something more sooner rather than later. Are you happy?”

Maggie clapped her hands together and hugged her older sister. “So freaking happy. You have no idea.” 

Macy blushed and turned her attention back to the Book. A spell caught her eye. “Wait, look at this. This spell splits a human’s consciousness from their psyche. I think this might be how the Elders developed the Whitelighter’s memory wipe. We could adapt this to split the connection between White and Darklighters.”

Maggie joined Macy to look at the book, studying it intently. “Yeah, but it’s got our symbol next to it. That means it needs the Power of Three,” she said, sighing. “Macy, we have to get it back. We need to know if Abby did anything to you when she took away your demon powers. I’m going to go find that knife.”

“Maggie, no, stay away from her,” Macy said, her brow furrowed. 

Maggie threw up her hands in frustration. “Do you have any other theories? Look, I’m just going to find the knife, do a simple provenance spell on it, figure out what she did to you, and then we’ll know how to reverse it. It’ll be easy.”

“Oh, and you think you’ll just find the knife lying around with a clearly marked sign that says ‘demon power stripping knife,’” Macy scoffed. 

“It’ll be somewhere in her apartment. I know she’ll want to keep that close.”

Macy turned and looked at her sister, her gaze turning gentle. “And it’s just about the knife? It’s not about someone who may be locked up in a certain subterranean dungeon? Because Maggie, Abby can’t know you know Parker is alive. We can’t lose our truce with the demons.”

Maggie tensed up and turned away. “Promise. I don’t want to go anywhere near Parker. I haven’t even read the note he wrote to me. There is nothing he could say that would make things better. Honestly, it’s just about the knife.” 

Macy looked at her sister. She wanted to believe Maggie was going to stay away from Parker, but she could only imagine how strong the urge was to get closure. “Fine, but just be careful. Call me if you need anything.”

Maggie smiled, glad to have a task where she felt she could be more useful. As much as she wanted to help Macy find a spell to sever Harry and the Darklighter, that wasn’t where her skills lie. “I will. You keep doing your genius science thing. I’m just going to pop over and steal Abby’s knife. I’ll be back before you know it.” 

Macy nodded. She looked down and picked up an empty container. “Oh, hey, we’re out of mugwort. Could you grab some from the Wicca store before you leave?” 

“Yep, no problem,” Maggie said, grabbing her coat and purse. 

* * *

As Maggie was waiting in line at the register in the Wicca store, she saw Jordan walking into the building. She started to panic. Outside of asking him to go to Maine with Harry, she hadn’t talked to Jordan since they hooked up after karaoke. She found out about Parker the next night and had been spiraling since then. She didn’t feel like she owed anything to Parker at all. That ship had sailed. It had just stirred up a whole bunch of old feelings. That was all. If she kept telling herself that, then maybe she would start to believe it. Jordan had texted her a couple of times, but she hadn’t been able to respond yet. 

“Maggie!” Jordan yelled from across the lobby. “Maggie, hey!” He jogged over to her. 

“Hey, Jordan,” Maggie said, trying to be nonchalant. “What’s up?” 

“Not much. I haven’t heard from you in a few days. Not since, you know. I just wanted to check and see how you were doing,” he said, nervously. 

Maggie looked away, willing the line at the Wicca store to move faster. “Yeah, it’s just been a crazy couple of days. I’m actually on my way out right now.”

“On a mission?” he asked hopefully. “Do you need any help with it?”

“Oh, no, I’ll be fine,” she said, evading his eyes.

“Are you going by yourself?” he asked, concerned, looking around for her sisters or Harry. “That doesn’t seem safe.”

“Oh, it’s not a big deal. I just need to go steal a knife from a demon,” she said, waving her hand to indicate it would be fine. 

His brow furrowed with concern. “Yeah, no part of that sounds safe. Come on, Maggie. Let me help you,” he said, gently reaching out and touching her shoulder. She unknowingly leaned into his warm touch. 

He did make a good point. Even though it was just Abigael, it would be helpful to have back-up. She didn’t really have a plan beyond walking into Abby’s penthouse. “Okay, yeah, I could use the help.”

“Great. Let me buy you a coffee and we’ll come up with a plan?” 

She sighed and looked at him. He was looking at her with that smile that made her go weak in the knees. “Fine, let’s do this.” She paid for the mugwort and the couple walked over to the cafe to grab a coffee. His hand hovered just over the small of her back. She hated how much she wanted him to touch her again. She really did not have time for a crush right now. 

“Okay, so what’s the story here? Why do you need to steal this knife?” he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

“It’s a specific knife that this demon used to strip Macy of her demon powers,” she explained.

“Wait, Macy is a demon?” he asked, his eyes going wide.

She laughed softly. He was always so eager to find out anything new about the magical world. “That’s a super long story for another day, but she is a half-demon, yes.” 

He smiled softly. “Cool cool. You’re definitely telling me that story later, just so you know. Continue.”

She nodded, taking a sip of her coffee. “So, I think when she stripped Macy’s powers, she did something to block us from getting the Power of Three back. I want to get my hands on the knife, do a provenance spell on it, and see if I can figure out what she did.” 

“Sounds simple enough. How do we get to the knife? What does it look like?” he asked, going into reconnaissance mode.

“I don’t actually know,” she realized. It was for the best Jordan had stopped her. She was so focused on the idea of getting to the knife that she had completely neglected to form a plan. 

“Well, what’s this demon like? What are her weaknesses?”

Maggie looked at Jordan intently, scrutinizing his appearance. “Wait, this may actually work. I call her Evil-demon Hornypants for a reason. If you just flirt with her for a little bit, I can sneak around and find the knife.”

He laughed. “Alright, so you’re going to honeypot me. I can work with that. Well, let’s get going then.” 

* * *

Mel and Harry landed in front of the warehouse where Jimmy had kidnapped Macy. They walked inside to find it completely empty. 

“I don’t understand. This was where it was. This was filled with pneumatic tubes full of magical creatures. There were dozens of tubes. How could he have cleared it out so completely?” Mel asked.

“He’s gone underground. His apartment is empty. We have no other leads. No idea where he could be right now,” Harry said, frustrated. If they weren’t able to find Jimmy, it was only a matter of time before whoever had him killed him. And Harry would die in the process. “Look, Mel…”

She looked at him and cut him off. “Don’t. Don’t even think it, Harry. We’re going to find Jimmy. We’re going to keep you safe. Don’t say anything you’re about to say.”

He sighed, pleading with her to stay silent for just a moment. `“Would you just stop and let me speak? We need to be realistic here. This is the same as me having a Widowmaker heart or a brain aneurysm. At any moment, I could die. We have no idea what is happening to Jimmy. If anything happens to me, I need you to go to the top drawer of my desk in the attic…”

“Harry, stop it. You’re being ridiculous.” She couldn’t let him continue. The idea of Harry dying was not one she could fathom. She could not go home to Macy without him. She could not be the one to break her sister’s heart. 

He put his hand up, trying to get her to stop. “If anything happens to me, Mel, there are letters in there for you and your sisters.”

She took a deep breath. “You wrote us goodbye letters? Are you serious, Harry?”

He looked at her intently and sighed. “Yes, I wanted to be sure I could say the things I needed to say to each of you. And they’re woefully short. There was so much more I wanted to say to the three of you. But Mel, if anything goes wrong, you have to know the three of you have been the closest I’ve ever had to a family that really loves me. Maggie is like the daughter I never had. You’re like a sister to me. And Macy, well, Macy is my everything. I need the three of you to know that it has been my greatest honor to be a part of your lives.” 

The closer he got to the end of his speech, the more choked up he began to get. He had tried to tell himself he made peace with the idea of dying. He had lived a long life. His death would help to keep the sisters safe. Then he thought about Macy and realized he was nowhere near ready to say goodbye to her. This death would be final. There would be no coming back from it. No more bantering with Mel over spells. No more of Maggie trying to teach him about TikTok and Instagram as she laughed lovingly at his confusion. No more moments where Macy ranted excitedly about something as he suppressed his desire to stop her with a kiss. He thought back to the dreams he had while he was sick and how he longed for them to become a reality. 

“Harry, stop it. We’re going to find Jimmy and then we’ll go home and you can tell us all this yourself.” Mel started to tear up a little bit. She could see how scared Harry was, how frustrated he was by not finding Jimmy here. “Now, come on, there were like 50 computers in here last time.” She looked around and saw wires hanging from walls. “They were in a hurry to leave. They had to have left something behind.” 

A soft beeping could be heard in the distance. “What’s that sound?” Harry asked.

“I don’t know, but let’s find it,” she said, walking in the direction of the beeps. 

They walked into a room set up like an operating suite. There was an empty bed in the middle of the room. Lights were hanging directly above it. “Do you think they were experimenting here on the Darklighter?” she asked. 

“It’s possible,” he said. His nose crinkled. “Something smells foul, though.” 

She pointed out a large vat on the other side of the room. They walked over and removed the lid from it. A sea of milky liquid sat inside. “What is this?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t recognize this substance,” he said. He looked around to find a stick of some sort to poke around in it. The liquid was too opaque to see to the bottom. He wasn’t about to stick his hand in to see if there was anything. He found a discarded metal rod and stuck it inside. It hit against something and a leathered husk rose to the surface.

“Oh god,” she said, backing up. “What is that?” 

“I think it’s a lycanthrope,” he said, choking back bile. The smell of the liquid was nearly unbearable. “Or it was.” He tilted his head to look at it from another angle. “Perhaps a hedorah? Or an enenera? It’s hard to tell. There’s so much decay to the body. Wait, you said there was a computer with a list of what they had captured. Were any of those three creatures on the list?”

“I don’t really remember,” she said, trying to wrack her brain. “We didn’t get a chance to look at it for very long. I was tracking the kyon, so I was focused on that. And besides, we let all those creatures go.”

“They could have captured more of them,” he reasoned. “If they were looking for specific creatures, it stands to reason they went looking for them again after you and your sisters freed them.”

“But why? What is special about these specific creatures? If they’re just looking for magic, they could find that elsewhere. What are they doing once they have these creatures?” she asked, looking to Harry for some type of understanding.

He shrugged. “That may be the key to understanding their entire enterprise. We need to know what happened here.”

She nodded. “There’s only one way to find out. Revela su provedencia.” 

They stepped back as the provenance spell revealed the last significant moment in the room. A team of doctors stood around the magical creature, which was lying on the bed in the middle of the room. The doctors looked to each other and one of them stuck a large needle into its neck. A magical blast blew the doctors back from the table as the creature roared to life. It stood up and stalked over to the doctor. It spit out acid, instantly causing the doctor to disintegrate. The creature then changed to the form of one of the doctors and dissipated into smoke. 

“What the hell was that?” she asked. “Have you ever seen a monster like that before?”

He went through his mental catalog of creatures. “A monster that can spit acid, change forms, and turn to smoke all at the same time? No, there’s no monster I know of that can do all of that.” He ran back over to the vat where the decayed body was. “What if this isn’t one creature? Hedorahs can spit acid. Lycanthropes can change form. Eneneras can turn to smoke. They’re trying to build monsters out of magical parts. This is the leftover piece.”

“But they still need a host to contain the magic,” she realized where he was going with this. 

He nodded. “Enter my Darklighter. They’re trying to turn him into some sort of Frankenstein-like creature. Keep looking around. See if there’s anything you can find to lead us to him,” he said, starting to walk away. He would tear apart this warehouse, looking for any potential clues. 

Mel went around and looked under every table, opened every cabinet, and looked behind every door. “Aha!” Harry yelled from across the room. Mel came running over to him. “A burner phone. No passcode or anything on it.” He looked in the call history and found the last call placed to Duluth. “Off to Minnesota we go,” he said, putting out his arm for her to grab. 

* * *

Macy continued to analyze the spell from the Book of Elders. She found a hairbrush in order to get DNA from Helen and her Darklighter. She went through and made a list of potential variables. Different herbs to use. Different amounts of each ingredient. She had been through 10 different combinations so far. 

“Nexum in aeternum divide,” she said, getting frustrated. Yet again, the hair samples went up in flames. “Exstingue,” she muttered, running her hands over her face. She was going to run out of hair soon and then she would have no way to test her theories. She needed to get out of this room. The mental wall was quickly approaching and she had to step away before she crashed into it. 

She went upstairs to the kitchen area. Maybe there would be something in here that she could use as a model. She opened the refrigerator and found a carton of eggs. Excellent, this would be the perfect model. She pulled it out and cracked an egg, separating the whites from the yolk.

“Hey there, friend,” she heard a voice from behind her say. She turned around to see Julian.

“Hey, how are you?” she asked hesitantly. She had barely given any thought to him since the last time she spoke to him in this same building.

“Oh, you know, I’m okay,” he said. “I’ve been wanting to call you, but I didn’t know if we were the kind of friends who talked on the phone.”

“We can be the kind of friends who talk on the phone,” she said, smiling at him. “I was serious about wanting to be friends with you, Julian.”

“Are we the kind of friends who can get ramen together because I’m kind of starving at the moment,” he laughed.

She chuckled. “I’m actually in the middle of something right now or else I would take you up on that.” She probably wouldn’t have taken him up on that, but she didn’t want to continue to crush his spirit. He looked so hopeful. 

“Yes, you seem very busy separating an egg?” he asked, curiously. 

She bit her lip nervously. “It’s a model. I’m trying to figure out how to solve a problem and the egg is helping me envision everything.”

“Can I help? Maybe you need a fresh set of eyes on it?” He moved to stand closer to her. 

She thought it over. It would help to get a different perspective on things. Harry and her sisters wouldn’t be able to help her with this part. Julian was her only shot. “It’s my friend. The reason I needed to borrow the Airmid.”

“He’s really sick?” he asked softly.

She nodded, looking down. “Matter of life and death. It’s a super rare condition. No known treatment for it.”

“I’m sorry.” He looked over her shoulder at her notes. “Bell’s inequality theorem?” 

She smiled at his recognition. “I am exploring genetics vis-a-vis quantum entanglement.”

He nodded in understanding. “When disparate particles are so intertwined that any action performed on one affects the other.”

She shrugged. “So, if you know much about quantum mechanics, I could use the help.” 

“Well, it’s been a while since I had to do much with it, but some coffee might jog my memory. Can I get you a cup?”

She looked down at her now empty cup. “Sure, caffeine always helps speed up my ideas.”

They walked over to the cafe together. “What about quantum sudden death?” he asked. He grabbed a cup of coffee and handed it to her. 

She shook her head. “I thought about that, but it would decay both particles. I need to sever the connection without killing either subject.”

“Okay, well, I may need to know a little more about your friend’s condition first. What exactly are the two subjects here?” They sat back down at a table together. 

She stopped to think how she would explain that her friend had been split into two different people. “Okay, so mental metaphor here. Imagine he’s got sick cells, which I’m calling dark cells. And then he’s got healthy, light cells. I need to disconnect their fates. I thought about disrupting their environment using quantum teleportation.” She stopped to look at Julian, who was looking at her with an adoring gaze. “What?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s just the way you think, the questions you’re asking about unseen forces that control the universe. I’ve never met anyone who sees the world in the way you do. It’s amazing.” 

She blushed and looked down. “It’s not a big deal. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who think this way.”

“No, there aren’t. I wish there were,” he said. “Look, I know you’re focused on your friend right now and I completely respect that, but I’m working on the board of a foundation that’s working on malaria abatement. Our lead epidemiologist just left for another job and we’re scrambling. Would you ever consider consulting? I know you’ve got a lot of stuff going with your family, but it could be based out of the Shea Group labs here in Seattle. Minimal travel. Competitive pay. I’m prepared to throw a boatload of money at you, if you’ll agree to it.”

“You want me to work for you?” she asked, confused. 

He smiled. “I think of it as working with me, rather than for me, but yeah. Your talent is being wasted right now. There is so much good you could be doing in the world. Look, don’t tell me no right now. Take some time to think it over. Talk with your sisters. But Macy, you can’t keep putting your life on hold for your family. That’s not fair to you. And it’s not fair to the world for you to hide away your genius.” 

“I will think about it. Truly, I will. Just give me a little bit of time,” she asked. “It’s very flattering. I just have to figure out some things.” 

“Understood.” He looked up as a delivery person approached the table. “Ah, now, back to your friend.” He took a box out of a bag and placed it on the table.

“What is all this?” she asked, laughing.

“This is a chocolate souffle from a French pop-up my buddy runs. When I get stuck, I start eating. And I wasn’t kidding about starving earlier. So, we’re going to eat this amazing souffle here while we think. The secret is the ganache. They emulsify the chocolate and the cream together and it creates utter perfection.” He grabbed his spoon and took a bite. 

Macy looked up at him. She had been so focused on trying to separate the White and Darklighters that she never considered the possibility of merging them into one being. They had come from the same being. What if that was the key to everything? “Emulsion,” she muttered. “That’s the answer.”

“Wait, did this actually work? Because I really just wanted this souffle,” he joked.

“Total revelation. I need to go work through all of this. Just, thank you. Thank you for bouncing ideas around. Thank you for the coffee. And thank you for the job offer. I promise I will get back to you on that. But I have to go right now.” She grabbed her notes and walked back down to the Command Center.

* * *

Maggie and Jordan walked into Abigael’s apartment and asked to speak with her. The guards took them into the office where she sat at her desk. She looked up to see them and rolled her eyes. “You know, when one of the Charmed Ones is visiting me every week, it makes it look like we’re in bed together,” she grumbled. She got up and walked over to Jordan, placing her hand against his chest. “Although if you’re going to bring me new playthings, that might not be such a bad idea.”

Maggie wanted to reach out and slap Abigael’s hand away. She was not a fan of her touching Jordan, but this was their plan. “Abigael, this is my friend Jordan,” she said. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said, taking Abigael’s hand and kissing the back of it. “Maggie told me you may be able to help with a problem I’ve been having. She told me how powerful you are. And I need someone with power right now.” 

Abigael smirked. “Yes, well, I’m certain I could find some way to help. What seems to be the problem?” She led the two into the living room and sat down on the couch. Abigael positioned herself directly next to Jordan. Maggie sat on the couch across from them and fought the urge to roll her eyes.

“You see, I’ve been cursed by the breath of a dying witch,” Jordan said, his body turned fully towards Abigael. He rested his hand on her knee. Damn, he was really good at this seduction thing. 

“That is such a pity, but I don’t see what this has to do with me just yet,” Abigael said, moving closer to Jordan. 

“He has to balance the scales of justice, but we aren’t certain what that means,” Maggie said from the other couch. “If he doesn’t succeed, his descendants will be cursed and his life will forever be…”

“In danger,” Abigael purred. “And while I do love a bit of danger, I can see where that isn’t the type you’re looking for.” She sent a disdainful look over at the Charmed One. “And I see the Charmed Ones have failed you, which is why you’re here.”

“Exactly,” he said. “Maggie and her sisters have been so helpful, but I need someone with more power that can do things they can’t.”

“Oh, there are plenty of things I can do that the Charmed Ones could never even fathom,” Abigael said, leaning into him. 

He looked at Maggie out of the corner of his eye and gave an almost imperceptible nod. That was his signal to her that he had things covered here. Maggie was relieved because she was about to go rip Abigael away from him. 

Maggie looked down at her phone. “Oh darn, I got a SOS text from Mel. Is there someplace I could take this?” 

Abigael looked up, almost forgetting Maggie was still in the room. “Yes, Tori will show you someplace you can have some privacy. She’ll stay with you, though.”

Maggie rolled her eyes and left with Tori. As soon as they stepped into the foyer, she pulled out her influencer potion. “Sorry about this, Tori. Finge cor. Muta mentem. Alia eventa mihi. Shape the heart, change the mind, give me results of a different kind.” 

Tori blinked at her slowly. “What was it you needed?”

Maggie smiled. “Can you show me where the Overlord keeps the weapons?”

“Of course,” Tori said, leading her over to the elevator. “They’re down in the dungeon.”

Maggie’s smile faded. “The dungeon? Like where she keeps the prisoners?”

“Yes, they’re right near each other,” Tori said, pressing the button for the dungeon. “I’ll take you there right away.”

Jordan focused on occupying Abigael while Maggie was searching for the knife. Abigael was sitting pressed against him, her hand running up his thigh. 

“It must be so daunting to live with that sword of Damocles over your head. Never knowing when your last moment will come. Never knowing if this bit of pleasure will be your last. After all, what is stopping me from killing you right now?” she said, whispering into his ear.

He chuckled softly. “Well, it certainly makes things more exciting. Gives me a chance to live without regrets. If there’s something I want to do, I just do it.” He ran his hand up her arm. “I don’t let anything stop me from getting what I want.” 

Her hand continued to travel up his thigh. “I may know a way to help you balance the scales. A bit of a foolproof way, actually. What would that get me?” 

He dropped his voice lower. “Well, my undying gratitude. Maybe something more if it actually works,” he smirked seductively. 

She leaned back and smirked at him. She went over to her desk and pulled out a leather-bound notebook. “There are witches out there who are seen as threats by demons. I can’t help them because it would be bad for optics, you see. But if you were to rescue them, I can see where that might help repay your debts.” She handed him the book. 

“And you’re certain these witches are in danger?” he asked, trying to stay calm. Inside, he was thrilled. This seemed like a clear-cut solution to his problems. A list to be accomplished. He could absolutely do this. Plus, if there were a lot of them who needed to be saved, that would mean a lot of missions with Maggie. Lots of time they could spend with each other. Right, Maggie. He had to focus on Abigael and continue to buy Maggie some time. 

“I always do my homework, Jordan,” she said. “Now, as much as I love gratitude, I’d prefer my payment in something a little more tangible.” She sat down next to him and quickly moved to straddle his waist. 

He gulped and leaned back. He was all for flirting with someone to buy Maggie some time, but he didn’t want to actually go any further. He hoped she would find the knife and get back upstairs soon. “And what would that be?” he asked, his voice shaking a little bit.

She leaned in and put her lips against his ear. “Tell me why you’re really here.” 

That caught him off guard. “I already told you. I need help breaking my curse.”

She moved off his lap. “Oh, come off it,” she scoffed. “You’ve been completely transparent from the beginning. This business about a curse and needing my help. Playing on my desire to feel powerful. Maggie making herself scarce with some ridiculous phone call from her sister. I’ll admit, she did bring an exquisite distraction in you, but you’re not as good an actor as you think you are. So, if you’re not here for a favor, why are you here?” She leaned back as realization dawned on her. “She’s not here for a favor. She’s here for a rescue mission.” 

“A rescue mission?” he asked, confused. “What are you talking about?”

She pouted in a faux-pitying look. “That’s just quite sad. Bringing her new boyfriend to rescue her old one. Now, I like you, Jordan. I can think of many fun things we can do together. Things you would never get to experience with Bouncy over there, but I cannot have people knowing that Parker is alive.”

“Wait?” he said, recognizing the name. “Parker?” 

She smirked at him. “Oh, darling. You thought you were playing me, but you didn’t realize she was playing you, too.” 

Maggie walked out of the elevator and started looking around the dungeon. “Okay, just get in and get out,” she muttered to herself. She looked over to see a cabinet pushed against a wall. “Maybe it’s in there.” She walked over and opened it, looking at the array of weapons. “Why do demons need so many fucking weapons?”

“Hey Vera,” she heard a familiar voice say from behind her.

“Fucking hell,” she said to herself. “Nope, we’re not doing this. I am not here for you. I just need to find something and then get the hell out of here.”

“Come on, Maggie, just let me talk to you,” Parker pleaded with her. “Please, just give me this.”

“No,” she said, whirling around to face him. “I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to see you. I don’t want you in my life.”

“Just let me explain,” he said, looking at her with those puppy dog eyes that always made her melt. 

She stomped over to him angrily. “Explain? Explain how you were going to sell out witches in order to get more power? Even knowing you were putting my life at risk? My sisters’ lives at risk? What possible explanation would you have to make things better? No, Parker. Save your breath. We are done.”

He sighed and looked down. “I’m sorry, Maggie. But that wasn’t me.”

She glared at him angrily. “Yes, it was! It was just the part of you that you don’t like to admit exists. That I tried to ignore for so long, but it’s always going to be there. You’re always going to have that darkness. That thirst for power. That willingness to toss anyone aside in order to serve your own purpose. So, yes, Parker, it was you,” she shook her head sadly. “And the sooner you admit that to yourself, the better off you’ll be.” 

He looked at her, abashed. “Is there anything I can help you find?”

“I’m looking for the knife Abigael used to strip Macy’s powers,” she admitted. “Do you know what it looks like?”

He nodded. “Second pipe from the left. Eye level. There’s a hidden compartment.” 

She walked back over to the pipe and pulled it out. A hand grabbed her shoulder and whirled her around. Abigael stood there with a murderous look on her face. “I’ll take that from you now,” she said, ripping the dagger out of Maggie’s hands. “So, was this your plan? Have Jordan seduce me while you broke out your boyfriend and then what, strip Parker’s demon side, so you two could ride off into the sunset together?”

“What are you talking about? Where’s Jordan?” Maggie asked, panicking. “What did you do to him?”

“Maggie, it’s cool,” Jordan said, stepping out from behind the wall. “I’m right here.” He turned to Abigael. “It was all my plan to use the story of my curse.”

“No, I’m the one who suggested you flirt with her,” Maggie argued. “But we aren’t here to break out Parker. Honestly, I just wanted to examine the dagger. I wanted to see if you did anything to Macy when you took away her demon powers. That was the entire plan.” 

Abigael smirked darkly. “So, you still haven’t gotten the Power of Three back and you think it’s my fault?” She handed the dagger to Maggie. “Well, go ahead, examine away. You’ll find I didn’t do anything to block your precious powers. If there’s an issue, it’s entirely the fault of the Charmed Ones. So, do your little spell, and get the hell out of my apartment.” 

Maggie realized Abigael was telling her the truth. Macy had been right all along. Abigael didn’t do anything to block Macy’s powers. The issue was the disconnect between the sisters. She looked up, embarrassed. “Come on, Jordan. Let’s go.” She handed the dagger back to Abigael. 

“Hey, Jordan,” Parker yelled from behind them. “Take care of her for me?”

“Nah, man,” Jordan said, looking down at her and smiling fondly. “That’s what you don’t get. She doesn’t need anyone to protect her. She’s formidable all on her own.” 

They went back upstairs in the elevator and quickly left. As they stood outside the building, Maggie wrapped her arms around herself, walking forward, her head down. “I’m sorry, Jordan. Today was a shitshow and I put you in danger.” 

Jordan took a couple strides to catch up to her. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Maggie, it’s cool. Abigael was never going to hurt me. She talks a big game, but I was fine. Just tell me the truth, did you use me to go and see Parker?” he asked softly, trying to hide the slight amount of hurt in his voice. 

She stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide. “No! No, honestly, no. I didn’t even want to see him at all. It just so happens she keeps her weapons and prisoners in the same place, which you think would be a terrible idea. The chapter of my life with Parker is closed. I don’t want him back.”

He reached out and pushed a lock of Maggie’s hair behind her ear. “Just because you don’t want him back, it doesn’t mean you didn’t want to see him. To get closure.”

She closed her eyes and pulled back. “But I don’t need closure. Or I didn’t. I had closure. He was dead and I had moved on. I was happy again.” She started to cry. “Why does he have this power over me?”

“Come on,” Jordan said, pulling out his phone to call an Uber. “Come back to my place for a while? You seem like you need to talk.”

“You don’t want to hear me cry about my ex-boyfriend,” she said, wiping her eyes. 

“Let me decide that for myself. Now, come on,” he reached out for her hand. The car arrived and took them back to his apartment. She had only been here one night before, the night after karaoke. She hadn’t really explored that night. They had been drunk and focused on one thing. She looked around. It was cleaner than she expected, more sparsely decorated. She sat down on the couch and tried to compose herself. 

He went into the kitchen and made a pot of coffee for the two of them. “Now, what’s going on?” 

She sighed and took a sip of her drink. “I don’t want Parker back. Trust me, I don’t. He was great at the beginning, but he’s a half-demon and his family is completely toxic, as you can probably tell. It was for the best that I didn’t marry him. It would have been incredibly stupid. I was almost relieved when he died,” she said, scoffing slightly. “Which I know sounds terrible, but then I found out he wasn’t dead. And I was so angry about it. Because I just want him out of my life.” 

Jordan nodded and took a drink. “Are you sure about that? Because it sounds like you really loved him at one point. No one would blame you if there was a part of you that wanted him back,” he said, tilting his head to the side, comfortingly. 

She set her drink on the coffee table and pulled her legs up, hugging her knees to her chest. She rested her chin on her knees. “There was at one point. But no, I’m completely over him. I’m a different person now,” she said, shrugging. “I’m stronger. I don’t need him like I did when we were together. He doesn’t know the person I am now. And I don’t really want him to know me now. I definitely don’t want to know the person he became. The Parker I know wanted to get rid of his demon side entirely. He didn’t want anything to do with the Demon World, didn’t want any of that power.” 

“So you just need closure on your time together,” he nodded, understandingly. 

She closed her eyes and put her forehead on her knees, frustrated. “And I had that when he was dead. That was the most final closure I could have. So, why am I spiraling now that I know he’s alive?” she asked, looking back up at Jordan. 

He moved closer to her, putting his arm around her shoulders softly. “Because there’s a difference between closure and mourning. It’s easy to shut your feelings out when you think someone is dead. It’s totally different when that person is still out there, living their life.” 

She leaned her head against his shoulder. “I want to move on from him. There’s no sort of romantic feelings there anymore, but maybe there’s still a little bit of hurt.” A tear slowly rolled down her cheek. 

His hand squeezed her shoulder softly. “That’s okay. The way things ended between you was traumatic. And it takes time to get past that trauma. Just know that I’m here for you, in whatever way you need me.” 

She looked up at him, hesitantly. “What way do you want to be there for me? We haven’t really talked about what happened between us.”

He pulled his arm off her shoulder and reached for her hand, his thumb rubbing across her knuckles softly. “Maggie, you’ve got a lot going on in your life. And I don’t want to be an added stress. I won’t deny that I like you. I like you a lot. I don’t just hook up with people. So, if you need me to just be a supportive friend, I can be that. But if you want to be more than that, I can do that, too.” 

She smiled at him. “I really like you, too. And I haven’t let myself like anyone for a while. But my life is complicated. My last relationship was filled with tortured pining and I can’t do that again. I don’t know if I can do anything serious yet.” 

He nodded, looking at her softly. “That’s okay. I get that. How about this? We just see how things go. We can still go on missions together. I hadn’t even had a chance to tell you, but Harry’s going to start training me in the ways of magic.” 

“Wait, he is?” she asked, excitedly. “I can’t believe he didn’t mention it yet.” 

He smiled brightly. “Yeah, to help with breaking my curse. So, I’ll probably be hanging around a lot more. Are you cool with that?”

She nodded, beaming at him. “I’m absolutely cool with anything that leads to more of you in my life.” 

“Good, because I really want to be in your life,” he said, seriously. 

She leaned in and kissed him softly. “Thank you. For helping me come up with a plan today. For trying to seduce Abigael. For listening to me talk about my stupid ex-boyfriend.”

“Anytime,” he said, leaning down and kissing her again. He rested his palm against her cheek, gently brushing away the last remnants of her tears with his thumb. “I’m here for anything you need.” 

“What if I just need to make out with you right now?” she asked, jokingly. 

He chuckled and pulled her closer. “Oh, then I am absolutely the man for that.” She leaned back against the arm of the couch and pulled him down with her. They spent the rest of the afternoon lazily kissing on the couch. She didn’t think of Parker once more. 

* * *

Harry and Mel landed in front of a warehouse in Duluth. “This is where Choochi tracked the cell tower,” Mel said, looking up. 

Harry focused on a sign on the wall, getting a strong sense of deja vu. “I think Jimmy has been here before,” he said. “The logo on that sign. I recognize it from when I was trying to contact him.”

“Let’s go inside then,” she said. She put out her arm for Harry to grab and orb them inside. 

They landed in a hallway. Harry looked up and saw the same sign from his vision with Jimmy. “West side, floor 2,” he said, pointing at the sign. “That’s what Jimmy was trying to show me. He’s here somewhere.” 

He moved over to a door and attempted to orb inside. He landed back in the exact same spot. “There’s something blocking me from being able to get in there,” he said, frustrated. 

“Let me try,” she said, reaching out to melt the lock on the door. The door opened and they walked inside. 

“Harry, Harry, you need to help me,” Jimmy said from within Harry’s mind. 

“He’s in there,” Harry said. “I can hear him calling for me. He’s in trouble.” A loud, high-pitched ringing began. He doubled over in pain. 

“Harry, over here,” Mel yelled. “They got him back in the bottle.” She grabbed the bottle from the shelf and showed Harry. 

“Okay, then what’s behind that door?” he asked. 

“We can figure that out another day, Har,” she said, authoritatively. “Orb us back home. We’ve got Jimmy. He’s safe.” 

A thin wisp of smoke reached out from under the door. Harry stared intently at it. Just a little bit closer and they would have more answers. If they could just get behind the door, they could see what monsters this group was creating. They could finally be a step ahead for a change. 

“Harry, let’s go now,” she yelled. “We got Jimmy. Don’t be stupid.”

“We’re so close to more answers,” he said, frustrated.

“You promised Macy you were coming home today,” she reminded him.

The mention of Macy shook his focus. “Right, yes, let’s go,” he said. He reached out to grab Mel’s arm and orbed them back to the manor. 

* * *

Macy had been sitting in the living room since her conversation with Julian. Her mind was swimming with everything from the day. Part of her was thinking about the job offer from Julian and how much she wanted it. Most of her was thinking of the possibility of Harry and Jimmy merging with each other. 

She kept picturing Harry, his kind eyes, the shy smile he reserved only for her. Then she pictured Jimmy, the smolder that burned in his gaze, the sarcastic smirk that seemed to live on his face. Could the two of them merge into one person? Which side of him would be dominant? Did she even have to tell Harry what she was thinking? If she never told him about the possibility of the two merging, then she would never have to worry about it happening.

Maggie walked in later that evening. She had a smile on her face like Macy hadn’t seen in months. As soon as she laid eyes on her older sister, she became worried.

“Hey, I figured you’d still be in the Command Center,” she said, coming to sit down by Macy. “Have you heard from Mel? From Harry?”

“Nothing yet,” Macy said, distracted. “I’ve just been waiting.”

“Maybe no news is good news?” Maggie offered. “I’m sure they’ll be home soon and everything will be okay.” 

“I hope you’re right,” she said, twisting her hands together in worry. 

Shortly after, Mel and Harry orbed into the living room. Once she saw he was in one piece, Macy let out the breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. He smiled as he saw her relax. “Harry, you’re okay,” she breathed out. 

“I’m fine,” he said, holding out the bottle. “And we got Jimmy. He’s safe back in the bottle.”

Macy closed her eyes and sighed with relief. “Oh, thank god,” she said. 

“Now, I know it’s sister bonding time, so I’ll leave you all to it. I’ll be up in the attic,” he said, looking at Macy. He hoped she would come and find him later. There was so much he wanted to talk to her about, but her time with her sisters was more important. 

Maggie and Mel looked at each other as Macy focused on Harry walking away. 

“So, I say we do a short sister check-in tonight because I think some of us have other things they want to be doing,” Maggie joked.

“What? No, I’m totally focused on the two of you,” Macy said. “Promise. So, how did things go with Abigael?”

“Ugh, you were right,” Maggie said, putting her face in her hands. “She didn’t do anything to block us. Whatever the issue is with the Power of Three, it’s on us.”

“Did you see him while you were there?” Mel asked, hesitantly. 

Maggie nodded. “Unfortunately, yeah. Abby keeps her weapons in the same place as her prisoners, which I think is a terrible idea, but no one asked me.”

“And how do you feel?” Macy asked. “It must have been hard to see him.”

“It was,” Maggie agreed. “But Jordan ended up going with me to try and seduce Abby while I wandered around. I’m really glad he was there.” 

“Wait, what?” Mel asked. 

“Yeah, I made Jordan into a honeypot,” Maggie said, grimacing. “It didn’t work. Abby figured out the plan almost immediately. He tried really hard to seduce her, though. He totally would have been able to get me with those moves.”

Macy started laughing. “Sorry, just, that was your plan? Anyone with eyes can tell that Jordan is interested in you.”

“Yeah, he is,” Maggie smiled. “That’s probably why we spent the rest of the afternoon making out on his couch.” 

Mel rolled her eyes. “Don’t need to know all the details.”

“What? There aren’t supposed to be any secrets between us now, remember? So, can I tell you guys about this one thing he does with his tongue?” Maggie said, jokingly. 

“Nope, nope, straight people are gross,” Mel said, putting her hands over her ears and laughing. She regained her composure and looked at her sisters seriously. “Besides, we need to stay focused on the Power of Three. Because Harry and I think they’re combining creatures into some kind of Frankenstein-like monsters. What we saw today was just the tip of the iceberg. We need every weapon we have.” 

“But you got Jimmy? You’re sure,” Macy asked. 

“He’s back in the bottle and in Harry’s hands now,” Mel said, reaching out for Macy’s hand. “Harry’s safe now.” 

Macy sighed with relief. 

“Did you make any progress on your splitting spell?” Maggie asked, hopefully. 

“Possibly,” Macy said. “I think I have an idea, but I want to talk to Harry about it first. If that’s okay with the two of you?”

“Of course, it matters the most to him,” Mel said. She looked at Macy, who kept looking over to the staircase. “Macy, just go to him.”

“Are you guys sure?” Macy asked hesitantly. “I don’t want to blow off sister time. It’s important.”

“You thought he was going to die today. You need him more than you need us right now, and that’s fine,” Maggie said. “Go find Harry.” 

“He needs you, too,” Mel agreed. “But later, you’re going to update us on what’s going on between the two of you. Plus, Ruby just texted to see if I could stay the night.” 

Macy smiled. “Okay, I promise.” 

* * *

Harry sat upstairs in the attic, looking at Jimmy’s bottle. He was relieved to know he had control over his Darklighter again, but there were still so many unanswered questions. He sat lost in thought until he heard a soft knock at the attic door.

“Harry?” Macy asked softly. “Can I come up?” 

“Power of Three time over already?” he asked, confused. “You all are normally down there for a couple hours, at least.” 

“Yeah, well, Maggie and Mel could tell I was a little distracted,” she said. She twisted her hands together before motioning to the bottle. “Is he in there?”

He nodded to the bottle. “Safe and sound in there. It’s odd. For so long, we were all scared of him, hunting him.”

“And now, we have to protect him,” she said, softly. “I know.” 

He looked at her, concerned. “Macy, I didn’t even think how you must be feeling about this. Having him here in the house. I can take him to the Command Center so you have some distance from him.”

She shook her head adamantly. “No, Harry, it’s fine. As long as he stays in that bottle, you’re safe. I’m safe. It’s fine, really.”

“Did you have any luck with a severing spell?” he asked, softly.

She moved to sit on the couch. “I don’t know that it can be done. But I think there might be another way. I think I might have figured out a spell that could merge the two of you together.”

He sat down on the couch, shocked at the thought of that. “So, putting all of my darkness back into me? I could be a whole person again. Have all my memories back.”

“Yeah, you could. Or you could just keep him in the bottle,” she said, her eyebrows raised hopefully. 

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “But there’s still someone out there with the talisman who’s trying to control him. Eventually, they’ll come for him. And I could control him, if we were merged.”

“Or he could control you. We have no idea which side of you would be in control of things, Harry,” she said, shaking her head. 

He reached for her hand, holding it loosely against his. “What do you think? What should I do?”

She sighed and looked away. “Harry, it’s your life. It’s your soul, your memories. That’s a choice only you can make.”

He put his palm against her cheek softly, pulling her gaze back towards his. “But it affects you, too. Because I’m hoping you’ll be a big part of my life. Beyond just me being your Whitelighter. Could you still be with me if I merged with Jimmy?”

She thought about how scared Jimmy had made her feel. How arrogant he was. How deceitful he could be. “I don’t know,” she said honestly, looking into his eyes. “I don’t want to see you lose all the good parts of you. The parts of you that I love so much. What if you merge with Jimmy and you lose those pieces?”

He nodded. “That’s understandable. I can’t imagine any version of me that doesn’t love you, though. So, the question would be if you could love any version of me?”

She looked down. “That is the question,” she said softly. “I can’t imagine not feeling for you the way I do, but I also know that Jimmy scares me. And the thought of him being a part of you terrifies me.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “We don’t have to figure it out tonight. We can keep looking for a way to sever our connection. For now, he’s in the bottle and I’m safe. You’re safe.” 

”Exactly.” She hugged him, savoring the feeling of being in his arms. “I was so scared I was never going to see you again.”

“Oh, love,” he said, squeezing her tighter. “I told you I was going to do anything I could to come home to you.” He pulled back and ran his hand along her cheek. “I’m not ready to say goodbye to you. Not any time soon.” 

She closed her eyes and sighed before yawning. “Sorry, I must be more tired than I thought.”

“It’s getting late. Go get some sleep,” he said. “We’ll figure things out tomorrow.” He wanted to lean in and kiss her, but he didn’t know where they stood with everything. They had kissed last night, but he worried that was just because she thought he was dying. As he stared into her eyes, she answered his questions for him.

She leaned in to kiss him gently. “Good night, Harry,” she said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Both of them laid in their beds thinking about the creature residing in the bottle in the attic, trying to figure out all the ways he could possibly throw a wrench in their happiness that was so close at hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be back on Sunday with chapter 16, which is also in the running for my favorite chapter of the story. I'm very excited for everyone to read it. 
> 
> Comments are always very much appreciated, so please feel free to leave one if you'd like to do so.


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Third Time's the Charm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interaction with a witch in danger leads The Charmed Ones on a quest to regain the Power of Three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just went ahead and bumped up the rating on this story because well, I know what's still coming, and there's a fair bit of smut ahead. We're also into the bit of the story where my already long chapter lengths explode even more. This chapter was 36 pages. The one I'm posting on Wednesday is also 36 pages. And there's a 41-page chapter to come, too. I'd apologize for them being long, but I'm not sorry.
> 
> As a reminder, I've started posting twice a week now in order to finish this up by the new season premiere on January 24. So, if you haven't read chapter 15 that I posted on Wednesday, make sure to read that one first. 
> 
> This is one of the chapters that is in the running for my favorite of the entire story. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'd love to hear what you all think of this chapter, so please feel free to leave a comment. 
> 
> As always, a massive thank you to my wonderful beta katasstropheee. This story would be nothing without her. 
> 
> Some dialogue borrowed from 2x15: Third Time's The Charm.

Neither Harry nor Macy were able to sleep that night. They tossed and turned in their separate beds, thinking about the impact of a potential merge between Harry and Jimmy. 

Macy stared at the ceiling, thinking of the man in the bottle in the room just above her. He represented all the worst traits of the man she loved. She thought of Jimmy’s cold sneer. The fire in his eyes. The anger that seemed to always bubble under the surface. The lust he expressed for her with no regard to how his actions affected her. 

Then she thought of Harry. She thought of how safe she felt with him. The warmth in his eyes. His kind smile. The ease she felt in his presence. The way his desire for her made her feel loved and powerful. She tried to put the two sides of him together in her mind and kept failing to do so. 

All she wanted was to keep Jimmy locked in that bottle for eternity. But then she felt like that was selfish of her. He was still a living being, who deserved more of a life than being kept as their prisoner. Then she remembered the fear she felt when he kidnapped her. He had shown no regard for her wants, her safety. So, no, maybe he didn’t deserve any better than that. She couldn’t sit there and watch as her Harry was possibly erased by his darker half. She couldn’t let that happen. The spiraling thoughts continued throughout the night. Every time she thought she reached the bottom of the spiral, she found a different tangent to examine. 

Harry sat in his chair and stared at the bottle containing his Darklighter. He had so many questions for the man. He needed to know who his master was, who was running the operation to kidnap magical creatures. He needed to scream at him for everything he had done to Macy. He was still grappling with the fact that a piece of him had treated her in such a callous way. He needed to get to know the man and see if he could ever see himself merged with him. The desire to be a whole person was overwhelming, but he didn’t know if it was worth the potential cost. 

He thought of the fear he saw in Macy’s eyes as she was explaining the possibility of the merge. Was it fair of him to ask her to help him do this? Would his desire to be a whole person cost him the woman he loves? And without her, what was even the point of being a whole person? What was the point of anything if it cost him her love? 

As day broke, Macy and Harry emerged from their rooms exhausted and frazzled. They met each other down in the kitchen, waiting for the younger sisters so they could head to the Command Center together.

“Hey,” Macy said softly. “How was your night?”

“Restless,” he said honestly. “What about you?”

“The same,” she said, relieved to know she wasn’t alone in her thoughts. “Um, I didn’t tell Mel and Maggie about the merge. I wanted to talk to you about it first. So, do you want to talk to them about it this morning?”

“We should. It wouldn’t feel right to keep it from them. Maybe not this morning, though. I still don’t know how I feel about it and we probably need to talk about it more before we bring them in. We’ll talk to them about it soon.”

“Okay, that sounds good.” She was relieved he wasn’t ready to talk to her sisters about it just yet. She knew they would have a ton of questions. Maggie would want to know how both of them felt about the possibility of Jimmy becoming a permanent part of Harry. Macy didn’t have an answer for that question yet. 

“We’ll figure it out, love. For now, he’s in the bottle.” He moved over to give Macy a hug. 

She sank against him, relishing the feeling of his arms around her. She never wanted to give this up. “And you’re safe as long as he’s in there.” 

“Exactly,” he said, resting his head against hers. He didn’t want to tell her he had been thinking of letting Jimmy out. He needed to speak to him. He needed answers he feared only Jimmy could give him. He knew Macy would never approve, though. Until he figured out how to release Jimmy, though, it was a moot point. 

Maggie walked in as Harry and Macy stood there holding each other. She cleared her throat and smiled at them as they broke apart. She laughed at the blush on Harry’s face. “Mel texted that she’ll meet us at the Command Center. She spent the night at Ruby’s, but she’s on her way there now.” 

“Very well,” Harry said, putting his hands behind his back awkwardly. “Shall we?” He put his arms out for the sisters to grab onto while he orbed them to the alley outside Safe Space. They walked inside together. 

“We’ll grab coffee and meet you downstairs,” Maggie said, grabbing Macy’s arm and pulling her away. 

Macy knew Maggie wanted gossip. She just didn’t really know what to tell her. She and Harry were still in the same exact spot as they were the day before. They were floating in that no man’s land where they both wanted to be together, but neither of them had made any step to move toward defining anything. Macy knew she was going to have to be the person to make the first step. She just didn’t know how to do that. 

Mel waved at her sisters from the entry to the cafe. “Sorry, I meant to come home this morning, but Ruby had us up at 2 this morning to watch a soccer game. I fell back asleep,” she said, yawning. 

“It’s okay,” Maggie said. “You just missed out on the show in the kitchen this morning.”

Macy rolled her eyes. “I would hardly call it a show. It was a hug. You’re exaggerating.”

“Mmm, but I don’t think I am,” Maggie said, laughing. “I was there for at least a minute before either of you noticed me. So, what’s the deal with you two? How did last night go?” 

Macy hesitated. “We just talked for a little while and then we both went to sleep. Nothing major to report.” She averted her eyes from her sisters as they looked at her, waiting to hear more details. “Okay, let’s talk about literally anything else.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “Ugh, fine. You have got to get better at this whole girl talk thing, though, because you’re killing me with the lack of info here.”

Macy smiled softly at her sister’s enthusiasm. “Noted. I will try to get better at it when there is something more to tell you. But right now, there really isn’t. We’re still in the same place we were yesterday.” 

“Okay,” Maggie said, realizing that was going to be the best she could get for today. “Well, I slept like shit last night. I can’t stop thinking about what Abby said. How the problem with the Power of Three is us.” 

“Who gives a damn what Abby thinks?” Mel asked. “The Power of Three is our destiny.”

“No, our destiny is our own,” Maggie corrected. “That’s what the Guardian said. I’m tired of letting others dictate what we do and don’t do. Plus, we already have kickass powers.” 

“That is true,” Macy said nervously. “Do we really want to risk the destruction of the sisterhood if we don’t have to do it? We can do plenty of good with our powers the way they are.”

“But the world needs the Power of Three,” Mel argued. “How are we supposed to stop this group if we don’t have the Power of Three?”

* * *

The sisters walked into the Command Center. Macy handed Harry his coffee. If her fingers lingered against his hand for a second as she exchanged the cup, neither of them were going to say anything about it. 

Macy looked down at the table and saw the Darklighter’s bottle sitting there. “What is that doing here?”

“I orbed back home to grab him while you were upstairs,” Harry told her. “I don’t want him staying in the house. He’ll be safe here in the Command Center. And I wanted you to have more distance from him.” 

She nodded gratefully at him. “Thank you. As long as he stays in that bottle, I’ll feel safe.”

“I know,” he said. “Even if he does hold the key to a lot of our questions. He could tell us who is running this faction of zealots.” 

“Or he could get out, run away, and then you’re in danger again,” Macy said, frustrated. “No, he’s staying in there. It’s the only way any of us are safe. Harry, you have to understand that.”

He hesitated and looked down at the bottle. He understood all of her fears. He wanted to leave him there, too. However, a larger piece of him thought if he could just let him out long enough to have a conversation, he could put him back in and Macy would be never the wiser. 

“Harry, tell me you understand that,” Macy said, getting angrier. 

“Of course,” he said. “He’s going in the cabinet right now.” 

Mel and Maggie looked at each other. There was clearly something more that Macy and Harry weren’t telling them. This seemed to be about more than whether to let the Darklighter out of the bottle. Mel started to ask a question as the witchboard lit up. 

Macy walked over to the controller. “A witch is in trouble in Portland. Let’s go.” She looked back at Harry. “We’ll see you soon. Only you.” 

He nodded. “Call for me if you need help.” As soon as the sisters were through the portal, he went to the Book of Elders and started looking for information on the Darklighter’s talisman. 

* * *

The sisters landed outside a warehouse in Portland. They looked over to see a silver car pulling up. The car parked and a man stepped out of it.

“Shit, I know him,” Maggie said, turning to her sisters. “That’s Bruce. He’s the one who Jordan and I found at that rave in New Orleans. Let me start this. You come in for backup once I’ve got his attention.” Her sisters nodded their understanding. 

She walked over to him with a sarcastic smile on her face. “Morning there, Bruce. How’s it going? Long time, no see.”

“You,” he sneered. “What are you doing here?” 

“Oh, you know. Just taking in the sights. Catching up with old friends. The normal,” she said. 

He pulled out a gun and pointed it at her. “You have no idea what you’re doing.”

Maggie grimaced sarcastically. “Oh, Bruce. I don’t think you have any idea what you’re doing. You’re going to regret that.” 

He looked down at the gun in his hand, which was turning red with heat. “What? How are you doing that?”

Mel walked up and finished manipulating the temperature of the gun so that it was unbearable for him to continue holding. “No one pulls a gun on my baby sister and gets away with it.” 

As the gun dropped to the ground, Macy pulled it over to her and joined her sisters. “Now, where’s the woman?”

He looked at them with a sardonic sneer. “You have no idea what you’re up against.” He raised his wrist and pressed a button on his watch. The warehouse door opened. A monster came walking outside, shrieking a familiar scream.

Maggie looked at her sisters. “Why is his friend shrieking like a kyon?”

“I don’t know,” Mel said, reaching out to try to manipulate it into walking back into the shed. “But this isn’t working. Macy?”

“On it,” Macy said, flicking her hand to throw the man-like creature backwards. It flew back a few feet and instantly popped back to its feet. 

“What the fuck?” Maggie asked. She reached out with her baton and smacked it against Bruce’s wrist, shattering the watch he was using to control the creature. 

Bruce looked at her, his eyes wide with fear. “You have no idea what you just did.” He turned and ran away.

The monster continued to lumber towards the sisters. It looked over at Bruce and spit out a stream of green venom. As the venom hit Bruce, he burst into flames and disintegrated to ash in front of them. The monster then looked at the sisters, turned into smoke, and vanished from sight.

“Holy shit,” Maggie said, looking over at the pile of what used to be Bruce. “That man-ster had demon powers.” 

Macy looked back at where the monster had vanished. “They’re creating monsters they can control. They’ve weaponized their venom and who knows what else.”

“And we have no idea how to stop them,” Mel said. She turned to her sister. “Macy, Jimmy is the only one who can tell us what to expect here. I know you don’t want to see him and none of us expect you to go anywhere near him. But what if we could get him out of the bottle long enough to find out about the Faction? We can put him back in until you figure out how to split him and Harry. You wouldn’t have to go anywhere near him. But we have no idea who we’re up against here.”

Macy shook her head emphatically. “No, absolutely not. That’s way too dangerous. There has to be another way. No, he’s staying put inside the bottle. End of discussion.” 

Mel realized she wasn’t going to be able to get anywhere with her sister right now. “Fine, come on, let’s clean up Bruce and figure out where this witch is.” She went over to the spot where Bruce’s shoes sat on the ground. It was the only thing that remained of him. She picked them up and threw them into the trash before dusting off her hands. “Rest in peace, asshat.” 

Maggie looked at the trash can, sadly. “He was a bad guy, but he was still a human.”

“Yeah, a human that was prepared to kill us,” Macy pointed out.

“Well, if we’re fighting humans, are we prepared to kill them, too?” Maggie asked, conflicted. “Because I don’t know if I’m ready to kill anyone.”

Mel started to respond as she heard a banging sound coming from the trunk of Bruce’s car. She looked at her sisters and they walked carefully over to the car. Macy picked up the key fob from the ground and mouthed a countdown to her sisters. When she hit three, she clicked the unlock button and Mel pushed the trunk upwards. Inside, a middle-aged woman was blindfolded and gagged, lying in the fetal position. Maggie reached down to undo her blindfold.

“Who the hell are you?” the woman asked, irritated.

“We’re here to help you,” Maggie said quickly. “Are you all right?”

The woman blinked at them as if they had just asked her the stupidest question in the world. “Well, I’m currently hogtied and blindfolded in the back of a stranger’s car, so I can say I’ve had better days.” 

The sisters reached into the trunk and helped remove the woman’s ties, so she could get out of the trunk. “Are you a-” Mel started to ask.

“A what?” the woman responded.

The sisters looked up at the sound of tires squealing as they turned the corner nearest to them. 

“Major diesel engines,” Macy said, looking around for them. “Bad guy cavalry is on its way.” 

“We’ve got to go,” Mel said, preparing to reopen the portal.

“Wait!” Maggie yelled. “We can’t leave her,” she said, pointing at the woman. 

“Ugh, fine,” Mel said. She tied the blindfold back around the woman’s eyes. “Sorry, security precaution. I’m sure you’ll understand.”

“What-” the woman said. The sisters reopened the portal and yanked her back through with them. 

* * *

The sound of the portal reopening startled Harry out of his study of the Book of Elders. He looked up to see the sisters drag another woman through with them. “What is this? Or who is this?”

From above, they heard the Command Center voice begin to speak. “Welcome back, Elder Celeste.” 

“An Elder?” Harry asked. 

The woman removed the blindfold and looked around the room. “Looks like I’m home.”

“But all the Elders are dead,” Mel said, glaring at the woman in confusion. “How can you possibly be an Elder?”

“Yes, I had heard about the deaths,” Celeste said as she wandered around, looking at everything. “Such a tragedy. But I left the Elders ages ago. Since I wasn’t currently on the Council, I escaped their same fate.” She walked over to the witchboard. “Revela daemonem inimicum.” The lights on the board switched from green lights to purple ones. 

“What is that?” Macy asked.

“Demonspotting mode,” Celeste explained. “It can be far more useful than witchspotting mode.” She pulled a pocket watch out of her jacket and began to wind it. 

“What is that?” Maggie asked, walking closer to see the trinket. 

“It helps to slow down my aging,” she said, placing it back in her pocket. “I worked on it with Leo back in the 1500s. He helped to provide me cover during the Inquisition. Unfortunately, he also took credit for many of my greatest inventions. Such an ego on that one. He hated the idea of being overshadowed by a powerful woman.” She rolled her eyes.

“Leo?” Mel asked.

“Da Vinci,” Celeste said, sarcastically. “You may have heard of him.”

“Yeah, we’re familiar with him,” Macy said, equally sarcastic. 

“Yes, well, he helped me build this stopwatch,” she continued. “It doesn’t work on humans, though, which is probably for the best.”

She walked over to the witchboard and studied it closely. “There’s quite a bit of demon activity up here in the Pacific Northwest. Have you ever considered-” she started before stopping suddenly. “No, I’m not doing this anymore. I retired. I don’t have to worry about any of this anymore.”

Harry had been staring intently at the woman since she stepped into the room. He had the strongest sense of deja vu. “I know you,” he said softly.

She looked over at him for the first time. “Pardon? No, I don’t believe we’ve ever met before.” She pursed her lips and gave him a tight glare.

As soon as he saw that facial expression, he was mentally transported back to the Castle Breithe. He felt like he was laying on that altar, having his darkness ripped out of him. He shook himself back to reality. 

“You-” he began to yell. “You did this to me. You were responsible for the creation of Whitelighters. You were the one that came up with this barbaric notion.” As she stared at him blankly, his rage bubbled over. “Answer me, damn it!” 

“Yes,” Celeste responded. “I was there.”

“Unbelievable,” he scowled. He stormed out of the Command Center and walked out into the hallway. 

The sisters looked at each other, not used to seeing Harry react that way. “What the hell was that?” Maggie asked.

Macy glared at Celeste. “I would guess it was an entirely deserved response to seeing one of the people that tore him into pieces.” She looked back at her sisters. “I’ll be back.” 

* * *

She walked out into the hallway, where Harry was leaning against the wall. His face was red with anger. Hot tears pricked the corners of his eyes. She tentatively put her hand on his arm. “Harry, where are you going?” she asked softly. 

“I cannot be in there with that woman,” he said, pleading with his eyes that she would understand. “She is the one responsible for all of this. For creating me. For creating Jimmy. She’s the reason you’re terrified of that bottle and what is inside it. She’s my own personal Dr. Frankenstein.” He took a deep breath. “I cannot be in the same room as her. Please. Tell me you understand that.”

She thought of the panic she felt being in the same room as Jimmy, even with him being locked away in a bottle. “I completely get it. You shouldn’t be in the room with her. That’s unfair to ask of you.”

He sighed with relief. “So you three will get rid of her then?”

She paused. She thought of the multitude of questions they had about the creation of Darklighters. If Celeste was responsible for creating them, maybe she would be the one who could explain how to sever Jimmy’s connection to Harry. Plus, she had been taken by a member of the Faction. She could provide such useful information. Macy looked up at Harry. As she hesitated, his face dropped.

“Macy? Please tell me you understand,” he asked again.

“I understand why you don’t want to be in the same room as her. And none of us are asking you to be near her,” she said, trying to phrase her thoughts as diplomatically as possible. “But she has so much knowledge. She could be the key to figuring out how to split you and Jimmy. She could tell us more about the Command Center. She could tell us about the Faction. I have so many questions and only she can answer them.”

He nodded slowly. “I will not go back in there with her. I cannot do it.”

She pulled him into a hug, holding his head against her shoulder. “I get it. Let us get the information from her and then we’ll get rid of her.” 

He stood there for a moment, taking in the calming feeling of being in her arms. “I just don’t know what to do with these feelings,” he said softly into her shoulder. “The last time I felt this was when you were kidnapped. I’d never felt this before then.” 

“Felt what?” she asked, stroking the back of his head.

“Rage,” he said. “Pure, unadulterated rage.” 

She moved back and cradled his face in her hands. “Let us take care of you for a change. Go home. Go back to sleep because I know you slept like shit last night. We’ll pump her for information and send her on her evil, duplicitous way.” 

He kissed her softly on the lips. “Thank you. I’ll talk to you soon.” He reluctantly pulled back from her, squeezing her hands one last time before walking out to the alley so he could orb home undetected. 

She watched as he walked away. She couldn’t bear to see him hurting so much, but they needed whatever Celeste knew. 

* * *

She walked back downstairs where Mel and Maggie were standing in awkward silence. “Is Harry okay?” Maggie asked quietly. 

“He’s going to be fine,” Macy assured her. “No thanks to you,” she said, looking over at Celeste. 

Celeste briefly rolled her eyes. “You have no idea what the world was like after Salem. Witches needed protection, which was how we came up with the idea of Whitelighters. We had noble intentions. Our plans merely went awry.” She looked up at the sisters and shrugged. They continued to stare at her with icy glares. “I regret the pain our actions caused.” 

“You’ll understand if we don’t quite find that to be the best apology,” Macy said, crossing her arms. 

“This can’t have been a coincidence,” Mel said, intervening. “The people who kidnapped you are trying to infuse dead bodies with magic in order to bring them back to life. Exactly like you did with Whitelighters. How did they find you?”

Celeste looked around before rushing over to a bookshelf. She started thumbing through books, looking for something specific. “Damn it, where is it?” She found a notebook and turned to look at the sisters. “They found my notes. I made a how-to manual on how to transfer magic. I had them in a codex in the Castle Breithe. They must have found them.” She handed the notebook to Macy. “This is my back-up, but they must have had a powerful magical creature break the code for them.” 

Maggie grimaced and looked over at the shelf where Jimmy’s bottle lived. “Powerful like a Darklighter?”

Celeste’s face paled. “They have a Darklighter?”

“They had a Darklighter,” Mel explained. “We kind of stole him back. He’s in there now.” She pointed at the cabinet.

Celeste walked over to the cabinet and pulled out Jimmy’s bottle. She examined it closely. “My notes reference me, the author, as being timeless. They must have somehow tracked me to my winery in Sonoma. Impressive detective work from them.” She smiled at the sisters. “But they’re no match for the Power of Three. You’ll be able to easily defeat them.”

“Yeah…” Maggie trailed off. “We kind of don’t have that right now.”

Celeste’s mouth dropped for a moment. “Oh, power stripping when you came through the portal. That’s an easy fix.” 

“And some of us are still on the fence about getting the Power of Three back,” Macy added.

Celeste pursed her lips. “You’ve already talked to the Guardian, haven’t you?” The sisters nodded. “Let me guess, she told you all about the destruction of the sisterhood,” she spat out. “I can sympathize with your hesitation, but ladies, if humans acquire magic, that could spell the end of the world. It is imperative you regain the Power of Three.”

Maggie threw up her hands in frustration. “We’ve been trying, but it hasn’t worked.” 

Celeste narrowed her eyes and walked towards the sisters. “Well, then it’s a good thing you found me. Now, sominum unum, formidines tuas opponere, somnium, deliberates.” 

“What are you doing?” Mel asked, disgusted. “You can’t just put a spell on us without telling us what it is.”

Celeste continued to chant and walk closer to the sisters. Macy panicked and threw her backwards, breaking her concentration. “She told you to wait,” she yelled.

“I get this is a bizarre concept to you, but no means no,” Mel yelled. 

“You were all made aware that sacrifice is a part of the job,” Celeste said calmly. “It’s what you agreed to.”

“There’s a big difference between sacrifice for the sake of the world and letting some random Elder put a spell on us without telling us what it is,” Mel snarked back.

Macy nodded approvingly at her younger sister before turning her attention back to Celeste. “Besides, who are you to tell us about sacrifice? You walked away from the Elders when things got rough. Now, you’re going to answer some of our questions. You have information and we need it. And then once you’ve answered all of our questions, you’re going to leave.”

Maggie turned to Macy with wide eyes. “Why are we keeping her around at all? She should go now. Harry was right about her.”

Macy looked at her sister, her eyes pleading. “I don’t want her here anymore than you do. But she is the only one who can answer some of our questions.” 

Maggie clenched her jaw. “Fine, you can ask her as many questions as you want. I’m going to go home and check on Harry. You remember him? The one who sacrifices everything for us? That is always there for us when we’re upset about something? The one we just let go home to deal with things all by himself?”

“Maggie, that’s not fair and you know it,” Macy argued. 

“No, I can’t believe you right now, Macy. I’m going home,” Maggie said, leaving the Command Center. As she walked home, she stewed with anger. She didn’t understand how Macy could possibly be okay with Harry going home on his own. He had been so upset.

* * *

Maggie walked into the house and yelled out. “Harry? Are you here? Are you okay?” She walked into the kitchen to find Harry and Jordan sitting at the counter, working on a potion together. She smiled at the sight of Jordan and walked over to put her arm around his waist. “Hey, I didn’t know you were coming over today.”

Jordan tensed up and pushed her arm away. “Yeah, hey Mags, just here for a magic lesson from Harry.” He looked uncomfortably at Harry. 

“Oh, okay,” Maggie said, confused. “I just didn’t know you were coming over.” She looked at Harry, her brow furrowed with worry. “How are you? You were so upset earlier.”

He looked at her, his forehead crinkled in confusion. “No, I’m totally fine. Look, Jordan and I have a busy afternoon ahead of us with this potion.” 

“Oh,” Maggie said. “Well, it’s been a while since I helped with any potions. I could probably stand to brush up on some. Let me help.” 

Harry and Jordan exchanged a look with each other. “Look, Maggie,” Harry started, patronizingly. “Jordan and I really need to focus on this. Why don’t you go up to your room and play for a while?”

“Go to my room and play?” Maggie said, starting to get irate. “I’m not a child.”

“I know,” Jordan said, leaning down to her height. “You’re a big girl now, but I really need to learn this stuff. Why don’t you go look up some dance moves on TikTok and when we’re done with this, you can show us what you found.”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Maggie sneered.

Mel walked into the kitchen just behind her. “Maggie! Language! You know the rules. A dollar in the swear jar. Now.” 

“You, too?” Maggie said, whirling around to stare down her sister. “We haven’t had a swear jar since I was 10. What the hell are you talking about?”

Mel came over and picked her up, throwing her over her shoulder. “That’s it. If you’re going to throw a tantrum, you’re going to your room.” She took Maggie and tried to carry her upstairs. Maggie wiggled around, trying to get out of her sister’s grasp. “Would you stop it?” Mel yelled as they walked up the stairs.

“No, put me down!” Maggie yelled. She landed an elbow against Mel’s ribs, causing Mel to let go of her long enough that Maggie was able to stand upright. 

The change in balance and Maggie’s momentum caused Mel to lose her footing. Mel looked at her sister with a frantic look as she tumbled backwards. She hit her head on the bannister at the foot of the stairs and fell down. Blood pooled around her. She looked at Maggie with a vacant stare as the life left her eyes.

Maggie began to scream. Harry and Jordan came running in from the kitchen. “What the hell happened?” Harry asked. “How could you do this to your sister?” 

“It was an accident,” Maggie said, brushing Mel’s hair back. “Come on, Mel. Come on, just wake up.” She looked at Harry. “Why aren’t you healing her?” 

He shook his head sadly. “Maggie, she’s gone. I can’t bring her back. This is your fault.” He turned to Jordan. “Come on, let’s go.” 

Maggie looked up, frightened. “Where are you going?”

“I mean, come on, Maggie,” Jordan said, sarcastically. “You didn’t think we were going to stick around for you. We’re men. We weren’t built that way.”

Harry and Jordan walked to the door as Maggie continued to cry hysterically. “How the hell do I wake up from this nightmare?” 

* * *

Back in the Command Center, Maggie jolted awake and quickly stood up from the floor. “What the hell happened?” she asked, looking at her sisters. She ran over to Mel and started looking at her head to see if there were any injuries. 

“What are you doing?” Mel asked, pushing back from Maggie’s grasp. “Are you alright?”

Maggie let out a sigh of relief. “Yeah, I just had the craziest dream. It was awful. I was at home. Harry and Jordan kept treating me like I was a child. And then…”

“Then what?” Macy asked.

She looked up at her sister, not wanting to say she threw her sister down the stairs and watched her bleed out from her head. “Nothing. It’s not important.” Maggie looked around. “Where’s Celeste?”

“You were right. We told her to leave after she put that spell on you,” Macy explained. 

“But what about all the information you wanted to get from her?” Maggie asked, confused. “I thought she was going to tell you all about the Darklighter.” 

“We’ve made it this far without her,” Mel said. “We can do this on our own. We have her notes. And Harry can help us translate them.” 

“Exactly,” Macy said. “I think I remember a spell that can help us with translation, too. We just need some...sage. And we’re out of it.” 

“No problem,” Mel said. “I’ll run up to the Wicca store and grab some more. Be right back.” 

* * *

Mel walked upstairs to the switch room. As she opened the door that led into Safe Space, two men in white scrubs rushed at her and pushed her back into the room.

“What the hell?” Mel asked as they grabbed onto her wrists.

“Stay in your cell,” they yelled. “Stop trying to get out. Fucking witches.” 

“My cell?” Mel asked, confused. She turned around to look at what she remembered to be the switch room. A twin-size bed sat in the corner of the room, just underneath a small window. She walked over to stand on the bed and look out the window. It looked out over a large yard, fenced in with barbed wire. It closely resembled what she had seen of prisons on television. She ran back over to the door, peered through the window on it, and banged on the glass. “Maggie! Macy!” she called out as she continued to pound on the glass.

She tried the doorknob again, only to find it locked this time. She continued to rattle it frantically.

“Stop trying to get out of there,” one of the guards said, moving to stand in front of the door. “You’re not getting out again.” The guard began to chuckle. His eyes widened quickly and he crumpled to the ground. 

Mel started to scream as the door opened. Jordan walked in and sighed with relief. “Mel, there you are,” he said, reaching for her hand. “Come on, we’ve got to get you out of here.”

“Jordan, what are you doing here?” she asked, confused. “I don’t know how I got in here. I was just going to get some sage.”

“I know, it’s a long story,” Jordan said. “Come on, Maggie and Macy are waiting for you.”

“Maggie and Macy are here?” Mel asked. “You have to take me to them right away.”

Jordan led her down another hallway, looking around to see if the coast was clear. An orderly pushed a medicine cart out from around the corner. He looked up, surprised to see the two standing in front of him. “What are you doing?” the orderly asked. He pointed at Mel. “You! Get back to your cell! I won’t tell you again.” 

She turned to run. She looked back at Jordan and went back to grab his hand to run with her. He put his hand out to stop her. “No, it’s fine,” he said. “I’ll hold them back. You just have to go to your sisters. The door’s at the end of that hallway. They’re waiting for you on the other side.”

She nodded. “Okay, just be safe.”

She ran down the hallway, still confused as to how she had gotten there. This must have been a side effect of Celeste’s spell. She thought it had only gotten to Maggie, but it must have gotten her, too. She ran through the door and down the steps into...was that snow? It was sunny and mild weather earlier.

“Mel! Mel! Stop!” she heard her sisters yelling from in front of her. “It’s a trap!” She stopped dead in her tracks to see Maggie and Macy tied to pyres in front of her. 

She heard a dark chuckle from behind her. She whipped around to see Jordan dressed in the Witchfinder General’s outfit. “I told you your sisters were waiting for you,” he laughed. 

“What? Jordan? What are you doing?” she asked, walking backwards.

“Nah, ma’am. The name is Lawrence Mortimer Chase. I’m the Witchfinder General around these parts,” he said, advancing towards her.

“I will not let you kill my sister. Or any of these witches,” Mel said. She put her hand out to shoot an energy blast at him. 

“You can’t protect them,” he said, smirking. “When will you realize you can’t save the world?” He stood directly over her. “Now, it’s time to join your sisters. I’ve got a pyre with your name on it.”

Mel thought back to the couple of self-defense classes she had taken with Jordan. She reached out and kicked him directly in the crotch. He dropped to the ground with a thud.

“Mel!” Maggie yelled. “Get us off of these things.”

Mel ran over to her sister and started to untie her. “What is going on, Maggie?”

“I don’t know. I think Celeste did something to us. Just untie me and we’ll figure it out.”

Mel was shaking with fear and kept fumbling the ropes as she tried to untie Maggie. She looked down, trying to undo the complicated knots. All of a sudden, she heard Macy scream. 

She looked up to see the orderlies closing in on her oldest sister. They held flaming torches. One of them touched their torch to Macy’s foot and she began to burn. She continued to scream in terror. “Mel! Maggie!” she yelled out. “Mel! You have to get Maggie and get out of here!” The flames continued to wind their way up Macy’s body as if she had been coated in some sort of accelerant.

“Macy!” Mel screamed. She began to cry hysterically. “Maggie, what is happening? Macy’s dead.” 

Maggie looked over in horror as her oldest sister was swallowed by the flames. “Mel, it’s okay,” she said, realizing what was happening. “She’s not dead. This is a dream or a spell or something.”

Mel looked back at Maggie, tears still streaming down her face. “It’s the same thing that happened to you?”

Maggie nodded. “I think we’re in a dream together. I killed you in my dream.”

“And then I got Macy killed,” Mel breathed out. “How the hell do we wake up from this nightmare?”

* * *

Harry arrived home, still fuming from the earlier interaction with Celeste. He went to start a kettle for some tea and paced back and forth in the kitchen. He thought of all the things he wanted to scream at Celeste. He wanted to slap her for the pain she had caused him and all the Whitelighters. He wanted to interrogate her on everything she knew about the Faction. Macy had been right. She was their best bet at answers. She would probably be able to tell them far more than Jimmy could, at least about White and Darklighters. As the kettle whistled, he heard a knock on the door. 

He walked over to the door and found Jordan standing on the other side. “Hey, teach,” Jordan said, walking inside. “Ready to teach me some more potions today?” He smiled excitedly. “That cloaking serum you showed me before was awesome, so I’m excited to see what’s on tap for today.”

Harry sighed. In all the emotion of the potential merge with Jimmy and then this morning’s encounter with Celeste, he had completely forgotten his scheduled magic class. “Jordan, yes, of course,” he said. 

“You totally forgot about me again, didn’t you?” Jordan said, rolling his eyes. “It’s cool. You’ve rescheduled this like three times now.” 

“Apologies,” Harry said, grimacing. “There’s been a lot going on this week.”

“Well, I’ve cleared my day, so you can tell me everything that’s going on,” he said. “If I know you, there’s a cup of tea waiting in the kitchen for the both of us.”

Harry laughed and nodded. He motioned for Jordan to follow him into the kitchen. He prepared a cup for the both of them and leaned against the sink while Jordan sat at the counter. “We found my Darklighter,” he started.

“That’s awesome, dude!” Jordan said, excitedly. “Did you figure out how to get him back in the bottle?”

“He came to us pre-packaged this time. He’s in the Command Center right now.” 

Jordan narrowed his eyes at the Whitelighter. “I thought that was what you wanted. What’s the problem?” 

“It is. It’s just, Macy’s been trying to figure out a way to sever the connection between Jimmy and me,” he said. “And she doesn’t think it can be done. But she does think she could merge the two of us back into one person.” 

He nodded in understanding. “And I’m guessing you’re having some problems with that idea?”

Harry sighed. “If I knew for certain that I would be in control of Jimmy’s emotions, then I wouldn’t have nearly this much hesitation. And then there’s how Macy feels about everything.”

Yeah, what exactly is the deal with the two of you? I’ve never been able to figure it out.” 

“That is a long and sordid story for another day. Suffice it to say, I care very deeply for Macy and would like to be someone significant to her.”

“And she feels…?”

“Similar, I think? We’re just kind of floating along in this lane where she knows how I feel about her and she’s almost ready to be with me, I think.” 

“Do you know what the hold-up is on her end?” he asked, taking a sip of his tea.

“Well, someone who is identical to me in every way repeatedly invaded her dreams and then held her hostage for three days while he pretended to be me.”

“Shit, yeah. That might be a bit of a complication. And then that same person might be merged into your body and personality.”

“And she’s terrified by that concept, yes.” 

“Fuck, dude. I don’t even know how to begin to help you with this one.”

He smiled. “You’re fine. I don’t know how to help me with this one, either.” He looked down at the counter as he sipped his tea.

“There’s something more bothering you, too,” Jordan said, studying the Whitelighter. 

“Isn’t all of that enough?” he laughed nervously before sighing. “The witch the sisters went to save this morning turned out to be a former Elder.”

“Elder? I thought Maggie said they’re all dead?”

“Yes, she had retired, so she wasn’t killed with the rest of them. But she was the one who was behind the creation of Whitelighters.”

“So, what does that mean?”

“It means, we found the person who was responsible for splitting me and Jimmy in the first place.”

“But isn’t that a good thing? She could tell you if there’s a way to split the two of you without there being a merge.” 

“Yes, she could. However, being in the same room as her fills me with blind rage and I can’t quite focus on asking her questions.”

“Let us help you then,” Jordan shrugged. “Mel, Maggie, Macy, and me. Is she back at the Command Center?”

“Yes, they’re all back there.” 

“Well, let’s go then. Ask her all the questions you have and then we can go up to the gym and you can beat the hell out of something. Maggie and her sisters find it quite therapeutic.”

He smiled. It had been so long since he had someone to talk to other than the three sisters. He was a little surprised he had so easily spoken to Jordan about what had been happening. He was not accustomed to speaking about his feelings. His style was more suppressing issues until he pretended they weren’t there. Maybe this was some personal growth. The sisters had been so freely talking about their feelings. Perhaps it was rubbing off on him. “Alright, let’s go back to the Command Center then. But I will absolutely take you up on that offer of the gym later.” 

They quickly walked back to Safe Space. Harry stayed silent, preparing himself for seeing the Elder again. Jordan stayed quiet, realizing the Whitelighter needed to be lost in his own thoughts for a while. 

* * *

They walked into the Command Center. Celeste continued to softly chant, “somnium unum, formidines tua opponere.” The sisters lay on the ground in front of her. Mel and Maggie wriggled from side to side, softly asking for help. Macy lay completely still.

“What the hell are you doing?” Harry yelled. He frantically ran down the stairs. He stood over Mel and Maggie, checking on them. Once he realized Macy still wasn’t moving, he rushed to her side.

Jordan came running down the stairs behind him, rushing to Maggie’s side.

“I’m doing what needs to be done,” Celeste said to him. She looked at Jordan. “And who is this?”

“No, you’re not asking questions right now,” Harry said, fury soaking through every syllable. “What the fuck have you done to them?” He grabbed a dagger off the work table and ran to Celeste, holding the knife to her back. “You wake them up and you wake them up now. And you better hope they are completely okay.”

Her breath caught for a second. “You just have to let me explain,” she said. For the first time, he detected a hint of fear in her voice.

“No,” he said in a low, even tone. “I’ll explain first. As you know, Whitelighters are supposed to protect all witches. Now, I’ve been on quite a journey since the day you made me, and I would happily end your life in the blink of an eye to protect these sisters.”

Her voice wavered. “It was just a basic dreamcasting spell. I was trying to get them to face their fears, to accept the Power of Three, but I seem to have miscalculated.”

“Miscalculated how?” Jordan asked. He was still kneeling next to Maggie, brushing his hands through her hair in a comforting way. “And how can you recalculate this?”

“They should have woken up by now,” Celeste said, confused. “The dreamer always wakes up when they die, but they haven’t.”

Harry glared at her. “That’s because their greatest fear isn’t their own death. It’s losing one another.” He rushed back over to Macy. He leaned down next to her and began caressing her face. He began to mutter quietly. “Oh, love, please. You have to wake up.” 

“They’re just too connected to each other,” Celeste said, not understanding the connection. “They won’t leave each other, even in their dream state. I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s astounding. Two of them have already died in their dreams.” 

“What happens if all three of them die?” Jordan asked, concerned. 

“They won’t ever wake up,” Celeste admitted. 

“Do you ever think about the consequences of your actions? Have you ever thought of them? Did you even explain to them the ramifications of your spell?” Harry yelled. Celeste stared at him in ashamed silence. “Yeah, I didn’t think so,” he sneered at her. “Get me inside their dream. Now.” 

“Fine, Macy is the only one who hasn’t had a dream yet,” she said. She waved her hand and Harry collapsed on the floor next to Macy, instantly falling asleep. 

* * *

He woke up in the back room of a church. The door opened and Jordan walked inside, carrying boutonnieres for the both of them. “Hey man,” he said, handing one to Harry. “You probably need to get your tux on soon. Maggie sent me back with these. I’m surprised you were able to sleep at all back here. Aren’t people normally a nervous wreck on their wedding day?”

“My wedding day?” Harry asked, confused. “What are you talking about?” He remembered Celeste saying Macy was the only one left who had to dream about something. Why would her worst nightmare be Harry’s wedding day? “Wait, Jordan. Who am I marrying today?”

Jordan gave him a confused look and moved to look in his eyes. “Did you hit your head, man? Do you have a concussion? You’re marrying the mother of your future child. Abigael. Does that ring a bell at all?”

Harry sighed. Fucking Abigael again. “Right, of course. I think I could do with some air right now.” 

Macy walked through the church door. Everyone around her was dressed in their finest black tie attire. She looked down at her gray sweater and jeans. She didn’t know what was going on or why she had been brought here. The last she remembered, she was in the Command Center. 

She walked into the vestibule and saw a large picture of Abigael and Harry, staring lovingly into each other’s eyes. The sight of it caused bile to rise in the back of her throat. This couldn’t be real. No, this had to be Celeste. 

Maggie and Mel walked out from the back room in identical red floor-length gowns. “Macy?” Maggie said, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“Yeah,” Mel said, rolling her eyes. “I distinctly remember you not being invited to this.”

“What is this?” Macy asked, confused. 

“Harry and Abigael’s wedding,” Maggie said, softly. “And Mel’s right. You aren’t supposed to be here today. Harry didn’t want you here. Not since you moved away and abandoned all of us.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked, confused. “What is going on? I just saw you minutes ago.” 

“We haven’t seen or heard from you in almost five years,” Mel said, crossing her arms. “Julian offered you a job and you were practically on the first plane out of here. You said you never wanted to be a Charmed One and you were tired of being in a family. You wanted to go back to being on your own.”

Macy shook her head. “No, no, that’s not right. I never would have left the two of you. Or Harry. You all are my family. What about the Power of Three?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Mel said. “We got that all sorted. Abigael stepped right in and took your spot.”

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Macy said, shaking her head. “The Power of Three is a sisterhood. Abigael isn’t your sister. You can’t just swap people out like that. That’s not how that works.”

“Harry figured it out. He found something in the Book of Elders that allowed for a symbolic sister,” Maggie explained. “She had to strip her demon powers and swear a blood oath to us, but it allowed for her to take on the role of a Charmed One.”

“No, look, this is all Celeste,” Macy said. “She did something to us. None of this is real.” 

Mel and Maggie looked at each other. “Macy, sometimes things just change,” Maggie said, gently. “Look, you have an amazing career. You made it clear that’s what you wanted. But right now, you need to leave.” 

“No,” Macy said, walking down one of the hallways. “I’ll figure out a way to prove this to you. I just don’t know how yet.”

She nearly collided with Harry. “Oh Macy, thank god,” Harry said, pulling her close for a hug. “Look, we’ve got to get out of here.”

Macy looked at him nervously. “Harry? Is that really you?” 

“Yes, it’s me, love,” Harry said, putting his lips to the crown of her head. “Celeste put the three of you under a dreamcasting spell. You’re all living out your worst nightmares right now.”

Mel and Maggie ran down the hallway to catch up with Macy. They stopped when they saw Harry’s arms around their sister. “Harry, what the hell?” Mel asked. “You’re about to marry Abigael and you’re practically making out with Macy? What about the baby? Are you insane?”

“Your subconscious even made her pregnant?” he asked Macy. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, well, it’s my worst nightmare,” Macy said. “What do you want from me?”

“Look, ladies,” Harry said, moving towards Mel and Maggie. “None of this is real. Celeste has the three of you under a dreamcasting spell.”

The younger sisters looked at each other. Realization dawned on their faces. “Omigod, you’re right,” Maggie said. “I remember my dream now.”

Mel nodded. “Me too. Plus, it makes way more sense for this to be a nightmare than to think Harry would actually be marrying Abigael.”

“Right, we have to get the three of you out of here,” Harry said. “But most importantly, Maggie cannot die in this dream.”

“Wait, what?” Macy asked. “Why Maggie?” 

“Because I killed Mel in my nightmare,” Maggie said, nodding.

“And Macy got burned alive in mine,” Mel said.

“Burned alive? We’re going to have a lot to analyze with these dreams later, but okay. What happens if Maggie dies?” Macy asked.

“The three of you will never wake up,” Harry said. “Now, let’s get out of here.”

“Now, Harold, I know you aren’t about to leave me at the altar,” Abigael said, walking down the hallway in the largest, poofiest wedding dress Macy had ever seen on a real person. At least her subconscious had a slight sense of humor.

“This isn’t real,” Macy said. “This is just a nightmare. It’s all just a figment of my imagination.”

“Not real?” Abigael said. She grabbed Macy’s hand and put it on her stomach. “So, this baby isn’t real? See, you can feel it kicking, can’t you? That’s Harry’s baby in there. With me. He said you were so boring in bed that he couldn’t wait to come back to mine.” 

Macy ripped her hand away as if she had been burned. “No, it’s not real. Which is why I have no problem doing this right now.” She reached out and punched Abigael across the face, channeling her boxing lessons with Jordan. A nice upper cut to her jaw and she went down instantly. She looked up at Macy, her eyes turning red with anger. She took a second to get back up, her legs getting lost in the tulle surrounding her body. Flames shot out of her hands. 

“Wait, weren’t you supposed to have gotten rid of your demon powers?” Mel asked.

“Oh, please,” Abigael scowled. “I wouldn’t ever be that stupid. Macy knows that better than anyone. Now, you said if Maggie dies, it will rid the world of the Charmed Ones?” She swirled her arms around, creating a fireball the size of her head. She turned towards Maggie and prepared to throw it.

“I’ll take it,” Macy said. “This is my nightmare. This is my fault.”

“No,” Mel said. “Let me do it.”

“I’m the Whitelighter,” Harry said. “My entire purpose is to protect the three of you.”

“And what if this isn’t a dream?” Maggie asked. “And you actually die? No, this is insane.”

“Too late, witches,” Abigael said, throwing the flames directly at Maggie. 

The older sisters shoved Maggie as far back as they could. Harry threw himself in the path of the fireball, his torso catching it as he burst into flame. Maggie and Macy both screamed. The world went dark around them.

* * *

Harry sat up from the Command Center floor, looking at the three sisters. 

“That one was the worst,” Maggie said, looking at Macy. 

“Agreed,” Mel said. “Macy, your subconscious wins for most frightening images.” 

“All three of you were going to die for me,” Maggie said, her eyes tearing up. “You didn’t even think about it.” 

“Mags, you’re my sister,” Mel said, hugging her. “There was nothing to think about.”

“Exactly,” Macy said. “You were in trouble. You would have done the same for either of us.” 

Maggie nodded before looking at Harry. “And you’re okay? No burns?”

“No burns, nothing,” Harry said, nodding affectionately. “It wasn’t real, but that’s not to say I wouldn’t throw myself in front of a real fireball for you. For any of you.” Maggie came over and hugged him fiercely. He smiled and put his arms around the youngest sister. 

“I can’t believe Celeste did all of that to us,” Macy said. “Wait, where is she?” she asked, looking around.

The witchboard began to light up. “Portland?” Mel asked. “That’s how all of this started. There’s only one way to find out if this is real.” 

* * *

Macy went over to the control panel and opened the portal. The sisters jumped through and landed back in the same parking lot where they had met Celeste earlier that day. They looked over and saw Bruce’s silver car. As they walked closer, they heard a scream in the distance. 

“Well, that definitely sounds real,” Maggie said. She looked at her sisters and they ran towards the warehouse that contained the monster earlier that morning. As they entered, they saw a plethora of carnival paraphernalia strewn about. Mannequins. Giant cutouts of clowns. “Okay, if this is our subconscious, this is super fucked up,” she said as a life-size jack-in-the-box opened in front of her. 

“Over there,” Mel said, pointing to a woman slumped over on the floor with a deep scratch across her left cheek. 

“Just a scratch killed her,” Maggie said. “This poor woman.” 

“We have to take this monster down,” Macy said. “One way or another.” 

“Agreed,” Mel said. “But how? It could be anywhere.” 

Macy shushed her sisters and looked behind her. “Do you hear that?” she asked. She was certain she had heard footsteps very close to them. The younger sisters shook their heads no. 

Suddenly, shrieks and snarls were heard on the other side of the warehouse. The sisters looked at each other before running in the direction of the sounds. They came upon stacks of plastic barrels forming a barrier. They stopped in their tracks and looked around. The monster kicked through the barrels and walked out from behind, spitting a stream of green venom in their direction. Maggie shrieked and dove to the side. Mel put out her hands and covered it with a thick coat of ice. It froze in place for a moment, before shaking it off and turning to smoke. 

The sisters looked at each other before running back into the parking lot. “Screw taking that thing down,” Maggie said. “We need to portal out of here. Now.” 

Macy reached into her pocket to grab the marble, only to find her pocket had been burned away. “The marble’s gone. The venom must have hit my jacket and burned away my pocket,” she said, her eyes wide with fear.

“Harry can orb us to safety,” Mel said. “We just have to call for him.” 

Maggie looked around. “No, we have to face it. We can’t keep running away. If we can’t face this thing, then no one can and it will continue to terrorize humanity.”

Macy nodded. “We’re all going to die someday. Somehow. That’s not what matters.”

Mel smiled at the realization. “It’s how we live that matters. Sacrifice is our destiny.”

Macy smiled. “It’s time we get our power back. All of us together.” 

The sisters linked hands and turned toward the warehouse. “Potentia trium!” each of them screamed. A bolt of electricity shot out of their hands and blew the door off the warehouse. 

The sisters cautiously walked towards the opening. Maggie closed her eyes and saw a premonition. “It’s behind us,” she said, causing each of the sisters to whip around. “Potentia trium!” they yelled together at the monster, a mere six feet away from them. The monster took a couple steps forward before the blast of the sisters’ magic threw it backwards. It disintegrated into ash. 

The sisters walked closer, checking to make sure it was really dead. The ash vanished into the ether. The sisters looked at each other. Maggie began to scream with excitement. Macy reached out and grabbed her younger sisters in a hug. “We did it,” Mel yelled. “We’re back!”

* * *

Harry sat in the Command Center, anxiously looking at the witchboard, hoping he wouldn’t see three lights lit up in Portland. Jordan walked over and sat down next to him. “Are they going to be okay?” he asked nervously. 

“I hope so,” Harry said. 

“Should we go and help them?” Jordan asked.

“No,” Harry said, shaking his head. “This is something they need to do alone.” 

Celeste cautiously walked back in and sat down. “I really did have the best of intentions here. You may not agree with my methods, but this is the only way to get the Power of Three to return.”

Harry looked at her, his gaze icy. “You think I don’t know that? I understand how much they need the Power of Three. How much the world needs it. But what you don’t understand is how much I need those sisters to be okay.”

Celeste tutted disapprovingly. “As their Whitelighter, you know how dangerous it is to form attachments to your charges.”

“Again, you think I don’t know that,” he sneered. “But if you didn’t want us to form attachments, you should have taken away our ability to feel when you were ripping away parts of our essence. It’s human nature to form attachments. And I can promise you, no one who meets those three sisters can help but fall in love with them. They’re three of the most extraordinary women I have ever met in my hundred years on this earth.”

“He’s right,” Jordan added. “They’re amazing.” 

Harry looked at Celeste. “And that’s why I forgive you. Because if you hadn’t made me a Whitelighter, I never would have met them. And I can’t picture my life without them in it. So, while I will never agree with your methods, I cannot help but be grateful for the end result. Now, I don’t know about you, but I could certainly use a nice cuppa today.” He went over to grab the kettle and start the tea. 

A few minutes later, the portal opened and the sisters came bounding out of it. They looked at Celeste and Harry both drinking from their cups of tea, while Jordan sat nearby. 

“What did you do to us?” Mel yelled at Celeste.

“And what are you doing, Harry?” Maggie said in shock. “Since when did we start serving tea to the enemy?”

“Since we forgave the enemy and decided to turn over a new leaf,” he said, pouring out cups for each of the sisters. 

“You forgave her?” Macy asked, shocked. “For what? For warping our realities and forcing us to live out our nightmares?”

“No,” he said. “For her extremely misguided efforts in the name of helping me to protect witches. The methods were cruel, but the end result was needed.” 

Celeste stood up nervously. “I was not trying to force the Power of Three onto you. I was trying to help you avoid the real danger.”

Maggie crossed her arms. “And what is the real danger?”

Celeste smiled softly. “Your fear. After Salem, fear dictated the choices of witches for years to come. It was our North Star. Fear caused us to make decisions which could be considered morally questionable. Choices that do not deserve to be forgiven or forgotten.” She looked over at Harry and smiled in appreciation. “But right now, the magical kingdom faces its greatest threat yet. Humans, and we all know how good they are at destroying things.”

Mel nodded in understanding. “We were afraid, but we aren’t anymore. Greatness requires sacrifice.”

Macy walked forward. “We may not always be on the same page, but we’re ready for whatever comes.”

Maggie walked between her sisters and grabbed their hands. “We’re stronger together. Our differences are our strengths.” 

Celeste smiled at the three, more impressed with them than she had been with any set of Charmed Ones throughout history. If anyone would be able to overcome the Guardian’s prediction, she had a feeling it would be these three. “I do not know what the Faction is planning, but I am here to help you in any way I can,” she said. 

Maggie looked at her sisters, Harry, and Jordan, smiling. “I think we’ve got this.”

Celeste nodded. “I think you probably do.” 

Jordan looked over at the Elder. “How do we keep you safe?” 

“The Faction still wants your knowledge,” Harry agreed. “You need protection.”

Celeste held up her pocketwatch. “If they grab me again, I’ll just smash this. And whatever is in my head will become a handful of dust.”

Mel’s eyes got wide. “You would do that?” 

She nodded. “I’ve lived for centuries. I’ve seen what happens when humans gain too much power. They’ve never had magic, and I cannot even imagine what havoc they would wreak with it. It may be the end of the world as we know it if they get their hands on magic. So yes, if I have to die in order to keep them from getting their hands on magic, I would do so without hesitation.” She looked over at Harry. “I think it’s time for me to go.”

“Of course,” he said, walking over to grab her arm. “Where are we going?”

“Mykonos is lovely this time of year,” Celeste said. 

He nodded. “Ladies, Jordan, I’ll meet you all at home.” 

“Party at our place!” Maggie yelled, grabbing Jordan’s hand. “I’m making coquitos for everyone!”

* * *

The sisters walked home quickly, excitedly chatting about their last fight against the monster and reveling in the feeling of having the Power of Three back. They got home to find Harry was already back from Mykonos and getting started on dinner. Jordan proved himself to be a quality apprentice to Harry in the kitchen as well and assisted with preparing steaks (portobello substituted for Maggie), mashed potatoes, and a salad. They sat down to eat, coquitos flowing freely throughout the evening. 

“So, wait,” Jordan asked. “You all had to experience your worst nightmares? What did each of you dream?”

“You were actually in my dream, Jordan,” Mel started. “Or rather, Lawrence Mortimer Chase was in it. I was trapped in an insane asylum. Then you came to my room to get me out, but it turned out to be a trick. You had Macy and Maggie tied to these pyres and I got Maggie off of hers, but you burned Macy alive.” 

“Oh damn,” Jordan said, grimacing. “Sorry about that,” he said, looking over at Macy.

“It’s all good,” Macy said. “I survived. Mine was just that Harry had knocked up Abigael and they were getting married. She had even replaced me as a Charmed One.” 

“Yeah, we’ll talk more about all that later,” Harry said, resting his arm around the back of Macy's chair. 

Jordan looked over at Maggie as he squeezed her hand affectionately. “And what about you? What was your worst nightmare?" 

She looked down. “Mine was stupid. I dreamt that you and Harry were working on something and you both kept treating me like a child, but I think I actually might have been a child. Then Mel came home and tried to carry me to my room for timeout. I kicked her down the stairs, she hit her head on the bannister, and then bled out. Then you and Harry just left me crying on the stairs.” 

“Shit,” Jordan said, leaning back in his chair. “There’s so much to unpack there. First of all, do you think I see you as a child? Because we’ve done a lot of things together that would very much suggest otherwise.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Harry said, refilling his coquito and taking a large sip. 

“Hey,” Maggie said. “I’m a grown ass woman and I can have sex with whoever I want.”

“You absolutely can,” Harry nodded. “And I very much need to never hear about any of it. It’s not because I think of you as a child. It’s because you’re like a daughter to me, or at the very least, a much younger sister. Those are images I just don’t want to have.” 

“Harry,” Maggie said, her eyes tearing up. “Is that really how you think of me?” She walked over to him and gave him a hug. 

“Of course,” he said, patting her on the back. “You three are my family.” He looked at Macy over Maggie’s shoulder, smiling. 

Maggie went back over to Jordan, sitting down on his lap. “Well, Harry. You’re like the much older brother I never had. So, if I’m like your sister, it means that I will occasionally talk to you about sex. Macy and Mel can both attest to that.”

“It’s true,” Mel sighed. “She’s very free with information. It’s never solicited, but she will always tell you. It’s almost endearing after a while.”

Harry closed his eyes and sighed. “Fine, just promise me it will always happen at a time when I can drink.” 

“You have a deal,” Maggie said, laughing. “Now, I think Jordan and I are going to be off for the evening so he can show me how much he does not think of me as a child.”

“Nope,” Jordan said, shaking his head. “I’m going to need you to never phrase it that way ever again. In fact, we’re just going to ban use of the word ‘child’ or anything similar from all sex talk from here on out.” 

“And before you take off, I have presents,” Mel said. She ran over to her bag and pulled out plastic costume jewelry rings. “I snagged these from the warehouse. There’s one for each of us. I wanted us to have a reminder of how it felt to get the Power of Three back. To celebrate the choice we all made together.” She handed each of her sisters a ring.

“Mel,” Maggie said, starting to cry again. “No matter what happens, we always started this together.” 

“And we’ll see it through together,” Macy added. “No matter what happens.”

“Sisters,” Mel said. “Para siempre.”

“I really want to try out our new powers again,” Macy said. “But I think we’ve all had too much alcohol tonight. So, raincheck?”

“Absolutely,” Maggie nodded. “Don’t drink and do magic.” She pulled her sisters into a tight hug. “Everything feels so right now that we have the Power of Three again. I love you both.” 

“Love you, too, Mags,” Mel said. “And you, Mace.”

“Love you both,” Macy said. 

They stood there for a moment longer before letting go of each other. 

“Now, I am going to go over to Ruby’s for the night,” Mel said, grabbing her jacket. “If for no other reason than I don’t want to have to listen to all of you tonight. So, I’m out.” 

“It’s okay,” Maggie yelled as Mel walked out the front door. “I’ve got a privacy candle.” She turned to Jordan. “My room?” 

“Absolutely,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. “Night, Macy. Night, Harry.” 

They left the other two alone in the kitchen, looking awkwardly at each other. Her hand had been resting on his knee most of the evening. Harry’s arm had been around the back of Macy’s chair any time he wasn’t eating. She looked at him nervously and opened her mouth to say something. 

Harry put his hand out to stop her. “Macy, it’s okay,” he said. “We’re not having sex tonight.” 

She looked at him, disappointed. “Oh,” she said. “Do you not want to have sex with me?”

“No, that’s not it at all,” he said, grabbing her hands with his. “Trust me, I want nothing more than to be with you. But I want it to be because you want to do it. Not because you think you should. Plus, we’ve both had a bit to drink tonight. I don’t want there to be any question about whether either of us want this.” 

She smiled at him and leaned in to kiss him. “Thank you,” she said. “But will you still stay with me tonight?”

“If you want me to stay with you,” he said. “I’d love nothing more.” He looked at the mess in the kitchen. “I’ll meet you upstairs. I’m just going to get the dishes cleaned up.”

“They can wait until morning,” Macy said, standing up. “Come on. Come to bed with me.” 

He smiled softly. “Okay. Let me just go up to the attic and change.” He gave her a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll meet you in your room.” 

* * *

Macy stood in front of her closet, trying to figure out what pajamas she should wear. She normally slept in leggings and a t-shirt. She had a few silky nightgowns that she could break out, but she thought she might save those for a night where she actually had sex with Harry. She looked forward to seeing the expression on his face when he saw her in them. She decided to wear a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top. It would still appear casual, but would show enough skin to entice him. Besides, just because they weren’t going to have sex tonight, it didn’t mean they had to be completely chaste. 

Harry walked back in wearing the sweatpants Macy had told him drove her crazy, along with one of his tighter t-shirts. His eyes got wide as he saw how much skin she had revealed to him. “You look amazing,” he said, going over to lie down on what was quickly becoming his side of the bed.

He put his arm out for her to lean into his chest. “You look pretty great, too,” she said. 

“Can we talk about your nightmare now?” he asked her.

“Ugh, do we have to?” she said, burying her face in his chest in embarrassment. 

“Yes, love, we do,” he said, moving so he could look into Macy’s eyes. “You really thought I would marry Abby?” he said, cringing.

“Not really,” she said, avoiding his eyes. “But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intimidated by the thought of you and her.”

“Dream Abby said that I thought you were boring in bed and I couldn’t wait to go back to her,” he said. “Do you really think that?”

Macy moved to lay on her back and look up at the ceiling. “I mean, she has a ton more experience than I do. She probably knows stuff I couldn’t even imagine. And you have way more experience than me. You’ve had both me and Abby. What if you decide you don’t want to mess with having to teach an almost-virgin how to have sex? Go back to someone who is easier.”

“Macy, look at me,” he said. He waited a moment for her to look at him, tears in her eyes. “I’ve never had sex with Abby.”

Her brow furrowed. “What?” She started to pull back. “So, what? You just let me think you had sex with her? What the hell?” She moved to get out of the bed.

“No, no, just listen,” he said, reaching for her hands. “Look, this is really embarrassing for me, so just let me get all of this out. I told you how drunk I was that night and how I thought Abby was you. Apparently, when we went back to her place, we were doing some things.”

“Harry, just tell me. Don’t make me guess what you mean by 'things,'” she said, annoyed.

“Fine,” he said, closing his eyes. He reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose in embarrassment. “We were in her bed and we were making out. She was about to go down on me, but I said your name and passed out. I woke up the next morning naked and I just assumed we had sex. Abby told me the night I went over to her place for dinner after I had been sick. She didn’t realize I thought we had slept together. I just hadn’t had a chance to tell you yet.” 

Macy looked at him, her mouth open. “So, you and Abby never…?”

“No,” he said, emphatically. “I never wanted to have sex with her. Honestly, I find her sexual advances more annoying than anything.”

She smiled. “And you called out my name?”

“Apparently so,” he said, turning red.

She burst out laughing. 

“I’m so glad you find this amusing,” he said, irritated. 

“No, it’s not that,” she said. “It’s just that it must have been humiliating for her. I almost feel bad for her, but then I remember how she tried to kill me, and I suddenly don’t feel that bad anymore.” 

“Yes, well,” he stammered. “Can this once and for all settle the debate of whether I want you more than I want Abby? Because there’s no comparison, love.” 

She looked at him seriously. “I still worry you’ll get bored with me. I only had sex with Galvin a couple of times while we were together, so it’s not like I have a wealth of experience to offer.”

“Macy, I don’t care about that,” he said, cradling her face in his hands. “Sex isn’t a test you ace. It’s not about mastering different moves or anything like that. The quality of it is based on the emotions of the people involved. And if our one night together is any indication, sex with you is going to be amazing.” He leaned in to kiss her passionately. 

She opened her mouth to him and let her tongue lazily tangle with his. She leaned back down against the pillows, pulling him down over her. After a few moments, she broke apart from him. “You really mean that?” she asked, nervously. 

He brushed his hand through her hair. “Yes, love. I mean that.” He put his lips against her ear. “Besides, you forget how much I love to teach you.” He gently bit her earlobe, causing her to gasp. 

She turned her face to his and captured his mouth with hers. She pulled him down against her, covering her body with his. She spread her legs slightly, allowing him to settle in against her. She could feel him hard against her center. She instinctively thrust up against him. He growled and pulled her tighter against him. His lips broke away from hers and began to kiss down her neck. His hands trailed along her side, relishing the feeling of her body against his. She found his mouth again and pressed their lips together, swiping her tongue along the seam of his lips. He opened his mouth, drinking her in like a man who had been searching for water in the desert. 

She pushed her hands into the waistband of his pants, trailing her hands along his ass. He moaned and pushed his erection against her clothed center. She gasped and pushed up against him, trying to find friction for some relief. 

“Harry,” she gasped slightly. 

Hearing her say his name seemed to shake him back to reality and he pulled away from her. “Love, we have to stop,” he said, lying on his back and trying to put some space between them. 

She moved back towards him. “Are you sure about that? Because I don’t think we do.” She reached under his shirt, trailing the tips of her fingertips along his abs.

He grabbed her hands and pinned them to the bed. “If we don’t stop now, I’m not going to be able to stop later,” he said, pleading with her. “It is taking all of my self-control right now not to rip off your clothes and show you everything I’ve wanted to do with you since this summer. And trust me, it is a very long list. But we each had quite a few coquitos tonight. And I want us both to be completely clear-headed when we do this again. So, please, Macy, we need to stop before I can’t.” 

She stared at him, her pupils blown wide with desire. Her tank top strap was falling off her shoulder from where he had pushed it aside to get to more of her neck with his lips. “I completely understand that, Harry. And I want to explore that list in detail with you sometime very soon. But here’s the thing. I’m so turned on right now I’m not going to be able to sleep. So, can we find a compromise? Because I’m already past the point of no return here tonight. I promise you I am fully aware of everything that is going on. The alcohol has mostly worn off and I’m just a little tipsy.” She pushed herself up against him. “I just want you,” she whispered into his ear. “Please, Harry.” 

“Macy, I’m trying to be a gentleman here,” he said, nearly whining, putting his face into the crook of her neck. If he was being honest with himself, he hadn’t had that much to drink tonight. Not enough that his judgement was that clouded. He had been waiting for this with her for months. He just had hoped they’d go out on a date first. He had a clear plan that involved dinner, dancing, and candlelight. He wanted to romance her the way she deserved. 

“I know,” she said. “But I really don’t want you to be.” She pouted at him and he immediately caved. 

“Fine,” he said. “Compromise. Our clothes stay on, but our hands can wander underneath them. But that is it. I’m serious.” This woman would be the death of him. He could not deny her. 

She nodded quickly. “Totally fine. I’ll take that deal.” She lunged forward, grabbing his face and pulling him closer to her again. Their lips met furiously and sloppily. She reached under his shirt again, needing to feel his skin under her fingertips. 

He growled and turned her onto her side, so her back was against his chest. He pushed his hands under her shirt, savoring the feeling of her velvety skin against his palms. She gasped, pushing herself back against him. 

“Please,” she begged him. 

“Please what, love,” he asked, his voice hoarse with desire. “Tell me where you want me to touch you. Show me how you want me to touch you.” 

She took his hand and moved it down her body until his hand was on her center. “Please, Harry. I’m so close. I can’t take it anymore.” 

“Oh god, love,” he said, running his hand along her opening. “You’re soaking wet for me. Do you have any idea how sexy this is? How sexy you are?” he asked, panting into her ear. He gently pushed a finger inside of her. 

She gasped and pushed down against him. “Please, Harry,” she said, begging for more. 

“No, no, tell me what you want from me,” he said, kissing the crook of her neck. “Where do you want my fingers?” 

“I need another one inside of me,” she said. “If I can’t have all of you inside of me tonight, I need to at least feel your fingers.”

“God, love,” he said, pushing a second finger in her. “You have no idea what you’re doing to me.” He pushed the two fingers in and out of her, speeding up his movements as she gasped. He added a third, spreading her wider. He pulled them all out and swept his thumb across her engorged clit. 

The feeling of his fingers inside her and against her was the most intoxicating sensation. “Harry, I’m so close,” she said. “Please, more.” 

“More what?” he gasped into her ear. 

“All of it,” she said, whining. “Inside me and around my clit. I can’t take it anymore.” 

He quickly pushed two fingers inside her and swiped his thumb over her clit. She arched her back against his chest. He pushed in a third finger and felt her walls tightening around them. He furiously pushed them in and out of her, trying to prevent himself from shoving down both of their pants and replacing his fingers with his cock. That would come eventually, but not tonight. He circled her nub with his thumb. He looked down and saw her toes beginning to curl. “Let go, love,” he whispered in her ear. “I’ve got you.” 

She looked over her shoulder at him and saw him softly smile at her. He swirled his thumb around her once more and she fell over the edge. She screamed his name as she shook in his arms. 

He watched as she tried to regain control of her body. Her chest heaving with her gasps for breath. The thin trickle of sweat dripping down her brow. She turned in his arms and pushed him against the mattress.

“It’s your turn now,” she said. “And I will abide by your rule that clothes stay on, despite the fact that I all want to do right now is wrap my lips around your cock and suck you dry.” 

“Oh god,” he said, gasping. “How on earth could you possibly think you aren’t sexy when you say things like that to me? How on earth could you think I wouldn’t want you?” 

She leaned in to kiss him, not knowing how to respond to his questions. She ran her hands under his shirt, letting her nails graze across his stomach. She went lower down his body, reaching into his sweatpants. Her hand trailed along his erection, which was beginning to leak. 

She swept her thumb over the head, moving some of the precum down his shaft. She gently squeezed and twisted her hand around him. “Will you teach me?” she whispered into his ear. “Show me how to make you come.” 

“I mean, you seem like a natural,” he said, thrusting up into her hand. “Truly. A plus.” 

“Please, Harry,” she said, pulling back to look in his eyes. She stuck her lower lip out in just the slightest pout. “I want to make you feel as good as you made me feel.” 

She grabbed his hand and placed it around hers. He showed her how much pressure he liked, the speed that worked best, and how to twist her hand around him. As he got closer to the edge, his hips thrust up against her. He was quickly losing control. “Macy, Macy, love,” he gasped. “Oh god, I’m right there. I can’t hold back anymore.”

“I don’t want you to hold back,” she said, pumping him more furiously. “Please, babe, I’ve got you.” She watched as his face became more flushed. His pupils blew wide with desire to the point his eyes were nearly entirely black. She had never seen him so disheveled. She had never felt so powerful, so wanted. She wanted to study him as he fell over the edge, figure out how to do this over and over again. 

His eyes met hers and she softly smiled at him. Her innocent look combined with the way she was jerking him off sent him over the edge. He gasped out her name as he spilled into her hand. She worked him through his orgasm and then carefully pulled her hand out of his boxers. 

“Did I do okay?” she asked hesitantly. 

He looked over at her and started to laugh. “Yeah, love, you did more than okay. You did bloody brilliant.” He pulled her against him and kissed her deeply. “Are you okay? Was that too much for you?” he asked worriedly.

“Harry, if it was too much, I would have stopped us long ago,” she said. “It was perfect. You were perfect.” She started to put her hand against his face and then stopped to look at it, his cum coating it. “I am going to go wash my hand, though.”

He laughed, slightly embarrassed. “Yeah, that’s fine. Sorry, there’s really no way to avoid a mess.”

“It’s fine, really,” she said, leaning in to kiss him. She got up and quickly washed her hands before coming back to lay against his chest. 

He pulled his arms tight around her and kissed the crook of her neck. She sighed with pleasure. “Good night, love,” he said. 

“Good night, Harry,” she said. “We’re going to do this again soon, right?” 

“Love, if it weren’t for the stupid fucking Faction, you and I would never leave this bed,” he said, laughing. 

She smiled to herself, his reactions giving her a boost of confidence. She pulled his arms tighter around her and fell asleep, dreaming of everything they had just done together and everything else she wanted to do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all I've got for this chapter! I'll be back on Wednesday with chapter 17. Until then, please leave a comment. I'd really love to hear what you thought of this chapter.


	17. Chapter Seventeen: The Enemy Of My Frenemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Macy's relationship continues to progress. While Harry and Jordan go undercover for information on the Faction, the Charmed Ones deal with an upset in the demon world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay in getting this posted! It is still Wednesday where I am for a couple more hours, though, so I'm not technically late yet. It's another long one, so settle in for a while. If you feel compelled to do so, comments always bring me great joy. 
> 
> As always, I am forever grateful to my phenomenal beta katasstropheee. If you haven't been reading her series, Love in All Its Simplicity, check it out after you read this chapter! It is so soft and gentle in all the best ways. 
> 
> Some dialogue taken from 2x16: The Enemy Of My Frenemy.

Macy awoke the next morning with her head using Harry’s chest as a pillow. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and looked up to see him gazing adoringly at her. “Have you just been watching me sleep?” she asked groggily. “I don’t know whether that’s cute or creepy.”

“I haven’t been awake for long. Plus, you’re gorgeous when you’re sleeping,” he said, running his hand along her back. 

“I guess I’ll allow it then,” she said, leaning up to kiss him. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, love,” he said. “We probably have to get out of this bed now, don’t we?”

“Unfortunately, we do,” she said, running her hands through his hair. “But the sooner we get through our day, the sooner we can come back here.” 

He smiled softly. “I like the way you think.” He gave her another quick kiss before standing up. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen.” 

She watched as he walked out of the room, smiling to herself. She felt like everything was finally starting to line up for the two of them. She was ready to put a label on their relationship. All she wanted was to call Harry her boyfriend. The word boyfriend felt too insignificant, though. He was her everything. She just needed to figure out the perfect way to tell him that. She quickly got up and dressed. 

* * *

Maggie sat at the counter in the kitchen, drinking her coffee. She looked at Macy with a knowing smile on her face.

“You’re up early?” Macy asked, confused. “You’re never up this early.”

“Jordan had an early class, so he had to head to the gym,” Maggie said. “I figured I would just go ahead and get up with him. Besides, you and I have a lot to discuss this morning.”

“Oh, we do?” Macy asked. “What do we have to discuss?” 

“Everything that happened last night,” Maggie said, rolling her eyes.

“And how do you even know anything happened?” Macy said, taking a sip of her coffee. She looked up as Harry walked into the kitchen. He walked over to her as she handed him a mug. He leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, needing to be close to her again.

“Good morning, Maggie,” he said, taking a drink. “You’re up early.” 

“Yes, we’ve established that,” Maggie said. “Now, Harry, I think you need to get to the Command Center. Macy and I will meet you there later.”

“Okay?” Harry asked, giving Macy a confused look. “Is everything okay?” 

“Based on what Jordan and I heard coming from Macy’s room last night, I would guess that everything is more than okay,” Maggie said, casually taking a sip of her coffee.

His face turned bright red. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” he stammered, looking at Macy. 

“Yeah, don’t even,” Maggie said. “Two words: privacy candle. That just means Macy has to pay the sister tax. And unless you also want to tell me details about your sex life, I’m releasing you to go to the Command Center.” She turned to Macy. “But you’ve been holding out on me for too long. So pay up with the gossip.” 

Macy looked at Harry with a panicked look. “I guess I’ll see you at the Command Center later?” she said. 

He finished his coffee and quickly orbed to the Command Center, scared Maggie would begin to interrogate him about last night. Part of him felt like he was throwing Macy to the wolves, but he figured she could handle her younger sister. He knew he couldn’t. 

As soon as Harry was out of the kitchen, Maggie turned back to her older sister. “Alright, now spill it.”

“Uh…” Macy stammered. “Shouldn’t we wait for Mel?”

“Nope,” Maggie said. “You can fill her in later. She doesn’t like all the details that I do. She’ll be just fine. So, tell me everything.” 

“I don’t know if I can do this,” she said awkwardly. “Do you really want to hear all this?”

“Of course I do,” Maggie said.

“It’s not awkward for you?”

“Nope, not at all. Now, out with it. Based on the sounds we heard, the sex must have been pretty good.”

“We didn’t have sex,” Macy said, looking away from her sister.

“Bullshit,” Maggie said. “You were practically screaming his name. And you’re telling me you didn’t have sex?” 

“Our clothes were fully on the entire time,” Macy said, shrugging and taking a sip from her coffee. 

“I don’t believe you," Maggie responded, her eyes narrowing. 

“Honestly, he wanted to wait until we were both fully sober before we have sex again.”

“You two are infuriating, I swear to god,” Maggie said, throwing her head back in exasperation. “So, what did you do then? Because those sounds did not come from just making out.”

“I’m really not going to get out of telling you this, am I?” Macy asked, cringing slightly. 

“Nope," Maggie said, a devious smile on her face. 

“Ugh, fine. This is so awkward.” Maggie continued to look at her expectantly. There was no way she was getting out of this. “We made out for a while. And we were both really into it. Then he wanted to stop because he said he wouldn’t be able to stop later.” 

“Stupid Harry being a gentleman,” Maggie said, rolling her eyes. 

“That was pretty much my reaction, too,” Macy said, laughing. “And I was already past the point where I was going to be able to stop. He’s just an insanely good kisser. And he was laying down over me.” She started to get lost in thought over the sensation of him against her.

“Focus, Macy,” Maggie said, snapping her fingers. “So, what happened next?” 

“I convinced him that we should keep going.”

“Damn straight you did,” Maggie said, approvingly. 

“So, then we just, you know, touched each other,” Macy said, her words running quickly together.

“Wait, those screams were just from hand stuff?” Maggie said, disbelieving, as Macy nodded. “Damn, I thought you were lying earlier. Make sure you do light a privacy candle when you actually have sex because you two are loud as hell.” 

Macy looked away and smiled. “We don’t have to do this every time Harry and I do anything sexual, right? Because I don’t know if I can do this level of girl talk all the time.” 

“Don’t worry,” Maggie smirked. “It gets easier. But seriously, I’m so happy for the two of you. So, are you guys officially a couple now?”

“I mean, we haven’t said anything about putting a label on it yet,” Macy said. “I think he’s waiting for me to make that move, but I’m ready to do it. I want Harry to be my boyfriend, as weird and juvenile as that sounds.” 

Maggie squealed and gave her sister a hug. “Fucking finally. I am so happy for you two. Now, I release you from girl talk. Let’s go to the Command Center and save the world.” 

* * *

Harry got to the Command Center to find Mel already there. “So, how did last night go?” she asked him, in a sing-song voice. 

He grimaced. “Yeah, I know that you and your sisters are big on talking about everything, but there are some things I just can’t talk about with you. Or with anyone else, for that matter.”

She laughed. “Relax, Harry. I’m not Maggie. I don’t want all the dirty details. The less I have to think about you and Macy having sex, the better. I just like giving you shit.” 

“Very well, then,” he said, relieved she wasn’t going to force him to talk about the intimate details of his time with her sister.

“Besides, Maggie texted me this morning. We already know what happened last night,” she said, laughing.

“I don’t think you actually do,” he said. 

“Well, whenever you do have sex, could you either remember that you can use magic to block sound or keep it down? Because Maggie said she could hear both of you clearly from her room,” she said, glaring at him. 

He blushed. “Yes, apologies.” He stood there awkwardly for a moment. “We can talk about anything else now, right?” 

“Yes, please.” The two started to go through the Book of Elders, looking for anything that might be useful in their fight against the Faction. Macy and Maggie arrived shortly thereafter. Harry couldn’t even look at Maggie without blushing. Fortunately for him, a witch lit up on the board and the sisters went off to save her. It proved to be a busy day for the four with three witches needing saved throughout the day. 

* * *

They got home that night, all four exhausted. Harry quickly threw together pasta for dinner and the sisters all split off to go to bed early. It had been a late night for everyone the night before and the fatigue was catching up with all of them. 

Macy and Harry walked upstairs together. They stopped in front of her bedroom door. He leaned in to give her a soft kiss. “Good night, love,” he said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Wait, where are you going?” she asked, confused. 

“Oh, I was just going up to the attic,” he said, pointing behind him, equally confused. 

“Oh, I just figured...I mean, you don’t have to sleep up there,” she said, stammering. 

He smiled and put his hands on her waist. “Macy, I would love nothing more than continue where we left off last night, but I’m about to fall asleep standing here.” 

She laughed softly. “Harry, I know. I’m the same way. But I was still looking forward to sleeping with you again tonight.” She looked at him hesitantly. “I mean, if you want to. If you want to sleep upstairs, that’s fine, too.” 

He could tell she was about to start one of her nervous rambles. He leaned in to kiss her before she could work herself up. “That sounds perfect, love. Your bed is far more comfortable. Plus, it has you in it, which is a huge plus in my book.” 

“Okay,” she said, smiling. She led him into the bedroom and went into the bathroom to change into her pajamas. She came back to find he had done the same. He was wearing his “old man pajamas” that she secretly thought were the most adorable things in the world. He walked over to his side of the bed and laid down. She got under the covers and curled up against him. 

He looked into her eyes and cradled her face in his hand. A shy smile crossed his face.

“What are you thinking?” she asked him. 

“That this can’t be real,” he said. “That I’m in some sort of dream and I’m going to wake up soon. But that I’m going to enjoy it as long as I’m in it.”

“It’s real, Harry,” she said. “This is real.” She leaned in to kiss him. Once their lips met, it was like a dam burst from within them. They began to kiss furiously, pulling each other closer as if they were trying to consume each other. She moved onto her back, pulling him over her. “Oh god, Harry.” 

“Oh, love,” he said, kissing along her neck. He put his arms around her back, pulling her tight against him. 

She spread her legs wider, allowing him to settle against her. She felt his growing arousal and smiled to herself. She pushed up against him just slightly. “Harry,” she sighed. 

“You are going to be the death of me,” he said, stopping and looking into her eyes. “Feeling you against me is like heaven.” 

She smiled wider and leaned up to kiss him. Every word he said, every move he made, everything made her feel cherished. She didn’t know someone else could make her feel this way. She started to unbutton his pajama top, so she could kiss along his chest. He reached out and stopped her hands. 

“Macy,” he whined. “We’re both too tired for this, at least I know I am.”

“I feel like I got a second wind,” she said, slyly. She pushed her center up against his bulging erection. “And it feels like you might have, too.” 

“Not for what I want to do with you,” he said. “I want to take my time with you.” 

“You know I read that orgasms before bed can lead to a more restful sleep,” she countered. 

“Oh, is that true?” he said, laughing. “So, this is all just so we can sleep more restfully then?”

“Absolutely,” she said, putting her arms around his neck. “I’m very concerned about the quality of your sleep. It’s important our whitelighter be well-rested.”

“Mmhmm,” he said, leaning down to kiss along her neck. “You may have convinced me to do something.” 

“Oh really, and what is this something?” she gasped as he ran his lips along a particularly sensitive spot on her collarbone. 

“Well, there are a lot of ways I can make you come,” he said, whispering in her ear. “And if I remember correctly, you seemed to really like when I used my mouth on you.” He gently bit her earlobe. 

She was flooded with memories of their night after the club. The sensation of his mouth against her center. She couldn’t help herself. She let out a deep moan. “Oh god, Harry,” she said. “Yes, please.” 

He sat up slightly and pulled her so she was sitting up. He reached over and pulled off her tank top, taking a moment to stop and look at her bare chest. “You’re even more gorgeous than I remembered,” he said, in awe. He reached out to trace his hands around her breasts, leaning in to kiss each of them. He twirled his tongue around each nipple. She gasped and pushed against him. 

“Wait, hold on a second,” she said. 

He pulled back and looked at her worriedly. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she laughed. “It was maybe just pointed out that there are other people in the house who can hear us.”

“Right, privacy candle,” he said, laughing and getting out of bed. “You can be very loud.” 

“Uh, and whose fault is that?” she said, smiling at him.

He lit the flame quickly and ran over to lock the bedroom door. “Oh, I’m not complaining at all,” he said, walking back to the bed. “Please, make all the noise you want.” He lay down next to her again. 

“I’m not too loud?” she asked hesitantly. “I’m a little self-conscious about it now.”

“Don’t be,” he said, running his fingers through her curls. “Honestly, it’s incredibly sexy. Just like everything about you.” 

She smiled shyly. “Okay, good. Because I kind of can’t help myself.” 

“Good,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. “Now, where was I?” He leaned over her and hooked his fingers into the waistband of her leggings. He pulled them down and tossed them off the side of the bed. He did the same with her underwear, leaving her bare to him. She leaned back against the pillows as he spread her legs wider. He gently grazed his fingers up her legs, his lips leaving soft kisses along the insides of her thighs. 

She leaned back in anticipation. “Oh god, Harry,” she said. “Please, babe.” 

He laid down on his stomach between her legs and held his face near her center. She could feel him getting closer to her. He hadn’t even touched her yet and she was already so close to breaking. He leaned in and separated her lips with his tongue, soaking in her juices. She tasted absolutely divine. He could have stayed and feasted on her for hours. He thrust his tongue inside of her. 

She let out a loud moan. Since she didn’t have to worry about her volume tonight, she wasn’t holding herself back. He trailed his tongue up to her clit and flicked just slightly. She reached out and pushed her fingers through his hair, trying to pull him closer. “Harry, oh god,” she whined. 

He chuckled against her and the vibrations from his laugh nearly made her fall apart. He twirled his tongue around her clit. He sped up his movements until she made a noise and then he would slow down again. He went back and forth with his speed, pushing his fingers inside of her to help her along. 

She was shaking on the bed in front of him. He heard a slight rattling from the other side of the room. He looked over and saw the vanity starting to come up off the floor. He smiled, realizing she was losing control of her powers as she was getting close to the edge. That hadn’t happened before while they had been together. He was going to take it as a compliment. 

“Harry, why did you stop?” she asked, pulsing against him. 

“Sorry, I got distracted,” he said. “You’re starting to move the furniture.” 

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” she said. “I kind of can’t help it.” 

“Don’t apologize, love,” he said, leaning back in and flicking the tip of his tongue against her. “It’s very sexy.” 

“Good,” she said as he sucked deeply on her clit. “Oh, god,” she said. He pushed two fingers inside her and circled her nub one more time before she fell apart. “Harry, oh god, oh yes,” she yelled out. She shook back and forth. He pulled back and watched her fall apart while he continued to push his fingers in and out of her. 

“It’s okay, love,” he said. “I’ve got you.” 

She reached out and pulled him up closer to her, wanting to kiss him. She could taste her juices on his lips. She pushed herself closer to him as she tried to get her body to stop vibrating. “Your turn now, babe.” 

He smiled and kissed her softly. “You don’t have to, love. I’m perfectly fine just taking care of you tonight.” 

She reached down and trailed her fingers around his hardened erection. “Really? Because parts of you would suggest otherwise.” She leaned back and looked at him softly, biting her lip nervously. “Besides I really want to.” 

“Well, then who am I to deny you?” he asked, leaning in to kiss her once more. 

She pushed him against the pillows and finished unbuttoning his pajama top, pushing it off his shoulders. She pulled down his pants and boxers. She leaned back and took in the sight of him, fully naked in front of her. This was her first chance to really stop and appreciate the sight of his body. She trailed her hands along his stomach, paying attention to the spots where he seemed to be just a little bit ticklish. He wasn’t ripped as if he spent all his time in the gym. He was firm, solid. 

She leaned down and hesitantly placed her lips around the head of his penis. He let out a soft groan and let his head fall back against the pillows. She took that as an encouraging sign, pushing down and taking more of him in her mouth. She closed her lips around him and sucked slightly, earning her another moan. 

It was taking all his self-control not to thrust up into her mouth. Feeling her hot and wet around him was driving him crazy. He was trying to convince himself not to pull her off him, flip her over, and begin pushing into her. She deserved more than that, though. No matter how badly he wanted to be inside her again. It would happen soon. God, he needed it to happen soon. 

She continued to move up and down his shaft with her mouth. When she would pay more attention to his head, he would thrust up into her mouth, just slightly. She pushed herself down and took in as much of him as she could. He felt himself hitting the back of her throat and he moaned loudly. He pushed his hands into her hair, pulling her curls. 

“Macy, love,” he said, trying as hard as he could not to thrust upwards. “I can’t take much more.” 

She pulled off him for a moment and looked up at him shyly. “Then let go,” she said. She sank her mouth back down around him and ran her tongue along him. 

He felt himself tightening. “Macy, I can’t hold off,” he said, his teeth clenched together. “You need to move back.” 

She looked up at him through hooded eyes and pulled more of him into her mouth in a silent challenge. He felt her moan slightly and the vibration sent him over the edge. He spilled into her. She drank in as much as she could. Once she was certain he was finished, she crawled back up the bed and molded herself against his side as he continued to try and catch his breath. 

“So, was that good for you?” she asked, slightly sarcastically. 

“No,” he said laughing. “It was amazing, love.” He leaned in and kissed her deeply, letting his tongue tangle with hers for a few moments. 

She pulled back and smiled at him. “Harry, as much as I love all of this, and I do. I really, really do, but we are going to have sex soon, right?”

“What are you doing tomorrow night?” he asked, gently running his fingers through her hair. 

“I have no plans as of yet,” she said, coyly. “Why? What am I doing?”

“Let me take you out on a date,” he said. “A real date.” 

“Really?” she said, smiling brightly. 

“Yes,” he said, softly. “I want to take you out. Show you exactly how you should be treated. Spoil you the way you deserve.” 

“Okay,” she said, biting her lip. “I would love that.” 

“Good,” he said, leaning in to kiss her one more time. “Now, can we both go to sleep now? Because I think you were right about orgasms leading to more restful sleep. I could pass out right now.” 

She laughed and pulled her arms more tightly around him. “Me too. But it was so worth it.” He laughed and kissed the crown of her head. They fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms. 

* * *

Harry woke up before Macy the next morning. He took a moment to look at her laying in his arms. He would not have expected her to be as cuddly in her sleep as she was, but he was certainly not going to complain. She had a slight smile on her face and looked more peaceful than he had ever seen her look. With every moment, he fell more in love with her. She looked like she was going to be asleep for a while longer, so he decided to take the opportunity to go make breakfast for her. And for the others, of course, but he had a plan for today. It started with breakfast in bed and would hopefully end with their first date.

He pulled out the ingredients for Macy’s favorite scones and started to prepare the batter. He started a pot of coffee, knowing Mel and Maggie would need it as soon as they woke up. 

Maggie walked in, yawning, and sat down at the counter. “Morning, Harry,” she said sleepily as he handed her a mug. She smiled and took a sip. “You’re the best. So, good night last night?” She said, waggling her eyebrows at the Whitelighter.

He looked down at the batter and continued to roll out the scones. “It was a good night and that’s all the information you’ll get from me.”

“Aw, come on, Harry,” she said, pouting. “I live for this type of gossip. I used to have the girls in Kappa to talk to about their sex lives, but now, I’ve only got the three of you. Plus, Jordan, but I am his sex life, so there’s not a ton of talking there, if you catch my drift. So, I need you all to indulge me.” 

He stopped to look at her for a moment. There was a slight sadness in her eyes he could tell she tried to mask. “Are you doing okay, Maggie?” he asked her. “You’ve had so many changes this year and I know how hard it is to be uprooted from everyone you know and love.” 

“I mean, not everyone,” she said, shrugging. “I’ve still got the three of you. But yeah, sometimes I really miss home. I miss having girlfriends who liked the same things as me. Giving each other makeovers and going shopping. Talking about boy drama over skinny margs. I love you and my sisters, don’t get me wrong, but you guys don’t like any of that.” 

He nodded, understanding. He continued to roll out the dough before stopping. “Alright, fine,” he sighed. “I will not go into the more salacious details of what Macy and I do in the privacy of her bedroom. If she wishes to tell you, that is her choice. But I will do my best to engage in your ‘girl talk.’”

“Wait, really?” Maggie said, sitting up straighter and smiling wider than he had seen from her in a while.

“I cannot guarantee I’ll be any good at it, but I will do my best,” he said. 

“Alright, I’ll start you off at the beginner level then,” she said. “So, how is the sex on a scale of 1 to mindblowing?”

“Um, well, depending on how you define sex, we haven’t exactly had sex again yet,” he said, blushing. This was going to be excruciating for him, but he would do his best to indulge Maggie. There was very little he wouldn't do to make her happy. 

“Wait, still? Seriously, Har, what is the holdup?”

He put the scones in the oven and sat down at the counter next to Maggie, taking a sip from his tea. “Everything started with us ‘hooking up,’” he said, using finger quotes around the words. “And then she ran away from me for months.” 

“That was before, though,” Maggie argued. “You two have been through so much this year with the Darklighter. Why are you putting off being together when it’s clear it’s what you both want?”

“Because being together isn’t just about having sex,” he said, emphatically. “I want more than that with your sister. I want to have a relationship with her. I want to take her out on dates and get to know her on a more intimate level, her body and her mind. She deserves more than that. She deserves everything.” He frowned. He wanted to give her the world, but he doubted his ability to do that. 

“Harry, Macy already wants you,” Maggie said, reaching out to touch his arm. She could see him getting lost in his thoughts and psyching himself out. “What are you really scared of?” 

He evaded her touch. “When I was married, I was a terrible husband. I cheated on my wife constantly. I wasn’t there for her like I should have been. What if that’s how I’m destined to be with Macy as well? What if I’m just meant to hurt the people I love?” He looked down at the table, not wanting to meet Maggie’s gaze.

“You were a different person, Harry,” she said softly. “You’ve lived a completely different life since then. Mel and I know we don’t have to give you the ‘if you hurt our sister, we’ll kick your ass’ talk, because if you ever hurt Macy, you’d kick your own ass. It’s great that you want more than sex with Macy, but you already have an intimate relationship with her. Your relationship with her has always been different. Stop holding yourself to some unattainable standard and just trust your instincts. Now, what are your instincts telling you? Don’t think, just react.”

“Fine. My instincts are that I want to take her this breakfast in bed and kiss her until neither of us can see straight. I want to take her out somewhere nice tonight. Then I want to come home and spend the whole night in bed together,” he said, blushing. 

Maggie patted his arm approvingly. “See? Then you should do exactly that.” 

The timer dinged to let him know the scones were done. He smiled at Maggie and pulled the breakfast out of the oven. He put some on a plate for the younger sisters and fixed a tray to bring up to Macy. “Thank you, Maggie,” he said, stopping before he left the kitchen. “Despite my earlier misgivings, girl talk is maybe not the worst thing in the world.”

“I’ll remind you of that later,” she said, grabbing a scone for herself. “I expect an update tomorrow morning.” 

* * *

Macy was just waking up when he walked back into her room. “There you are. I was worried,” she said, yawning and stretching. 

He set the tray at the foot of the bed and climbed back in next to her, leaning in for a kiss. “Sorry, love. I was hoping you’d still be asleep. I woke up early and went to make us breakfast.”

“You made my favorite,” she said, smiling. 

“Of course,” he said, propping himself up on one arm. He took his other hand and ran his fingers through her curls. “I told you I wanted to spoil you.” 

She bit her lip, trying to restrain her smile from getting any bigger. No one had ever treated her with such care and affection. She didn’t know what to do with these feelings. “Maggie and Mel will get jealous if you only ever cook my favorites.” 

He laughed. “Don’t worry. I will make their favorites just as often as I already do. They just won’t get the full breakfast in bed treatment like you do.” 

“Oh, really?” she said, putting her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. “And what exactly does the full breakfast in bed treatment entail?” 

He pushed her back down against the mattress. “Obviously, scones fresh from the oven and tea straight from the kettle. But you also get something to occupy your time while you wait for it to get cool enough to eat.” 

“And what might that be? The morning news? A crossword puzzle?” she asked, smiling mischievously. 

“I was thinking something a little more interactive,” he said, hovering over her. He took a moment to study her face, wanting to commit every detail to memory. He brushed his fingers along her cheek. 

She reached up and pressed her lips against his. The tender kiss quickly turned heated. Both of them opening their mouths to the other, their tongues battled for dominance. She unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders before pulling him closer to her. His hands wandered up and down her body, his touch feeling like flames against her skin. She tried to roll them over and pin him to the bed underneath her. As her leg extended, she felt the breakfast tray against her foot. 

“Mm, wait,” she said, pulling back. “I don’t want to kick the tray off the bed. It would be such a waste of good scones.” 

He looked at her, breathing heavily. His pupils were blown wide with desire and his lips were slightly swollen from her kisses. “Right, breakfast. We should eat that now.” 

She laughed softly, still amazed that she could have such an effect on him. She leaned in to give him one more gentle kiss. “Thank you for making me breakfast.” 

“Anything for you, my love,” he said, pressing his lips to her forehead. “Now, I was thinking we could work from home today. I know you wanted to analyze some of the samples we found. We could set up your lab equipment in the dining room.” 

“Or we could set it up in the attic,” she offered hesitantly. “It’ll be easier to cross-reference it with your books. I know the attic has basically become your bedroom and I don’t want to take away your personal space, but maybe, you could start staying down here more? With me?” 

“Are you sure, Macy?” he asked, concerned. “I don’t want to be presumptuous and invade your bedroom.” 

“Harry, we already live together,” she said. “There’s nothing about our relationship that has gone in the right order. Besides, I don’t know how you’ve managed to sleep on that couch for this long.” 

“It is not the most comfortable, no,” he said, chuckling softly. “If you’re sure, maybe I’ll move some of my clothes down here.” 

“I’m sure,” she said, nodding. She had never been more sure of anything in her life. “Are you ready to be my lab assistant for the day?” 

“Always,” he said. He grabbed the breakfast tray and moved it to sit between the two of them. “But first, sustenance.” 

* * *

After breakfast and another short break to make out with each other, they made their way to the attic to start analyzing the samples Macy had been able to collect. She was completely in her element as she adjusted the microscopes, prepared her slides, and set up her data tracking methods. Harry just sat and watched her, admiring her beauty. She had a different confidence to her when she was in the lab, one he wished she had more frequently outside of it, too. 

“There’s DNA from seven different species and counting,” she said, in awe.

He pulled himself from his thoughts and sat next to her. “You sound almost impressed.”

“I am,” she said, emphatically. “It’s brilliant, if it weren’t so diabolical. Splicing magic into human DNA is…”

“An abomination?” he offered.

“And groundbreaking,” she countered. 

He could tell she was getting caught up in awe of the science of everything. He had to bring her back to reality. “And it’s a threat. This group is playing God with the magical world.”

“I know,” she sighed. “The science is just so elegant. But so far, we’ve only seen reanimated corpses.”

He nodded. “Which suggests they don’t know how to transfer magic to the living.” 

“If they could, they surely would have tried that already,” she said. 

“We must neutralize them before that happens,” he said, frowning. He could only imagine their power if they were able to infuse humans with magic. The thought terrified him.

He felt her hand on his and looked up at her. “I’m in furious agreement,” she said. He leaned in and kissed her, running his hand down her arm. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer. She started to move so she could straddle his waist when her computer chimed. 

“Back to work,” she said, flushed. 

“Yes, of course,” he said, blushing. He couldn’t help himself around her. They needed to focus on their mission, but the only thing he could think about was how she felt in his arms and all the ways he wanted to touch her. He took a deep breath and leaned in to look at the computer screen. “Right, so human DNA belonged to a 40-year-old John Doe, who died three months ago in Tacoma. Apparently, when his body went unclaimed, it was donated to a medical research facility in Idaho. MRTI?”

Macy took over the computer and did a quick search. “Here it is. ‘Donating your body to science is the ultimate gift to future generations. In death...give life.’ Well, that’s creepy. So, Idaho. Plus, they have a warehouse in Wisconsin and a facility in Duluth.”

“Maggie and Jordan encountered them in New Orleans,” he said.

“And Mel and Ray found them in Reno. It’s like they’re…”

“...Everywhere,” he said, frustrated. 

She sighed, trying to figure out the common link between all the locations. There had to be something she was missing. Some sort of obvious connection. She started running through the information she knew when her phone began to ring. 

He looked over at the phone. “Julian is calling you?” he asked. “I didn’t know you two were still talking.” He tried not to let the jealousy seep into his voice. 

“Only a couple of times. He found me the day I was trying to figure out the splitting spell. He’s actually the one who gave me the idea about the merge between you and Jimmy. He mentioned emulsification and it triggered that thought process,” she said. They had been avoiding the topic of the merge since she originally brought it up. “But that’s not what this is. Um, he actually offered me a job that day.”

“Wait, really?” Harry asked. “But that was weeks ago. Why didn’t you say anything? What’s the job?”

“It would be leading up a team to do malaria abatement research. It would be based out of Seattle. Minimal travel involved, amazing salary. I’ve just been putting off turning it down.” 

“Why would you turn it down?” he asked, confused. “You’re more than qualified. It sounds like a brilliant opportunity.”

“I mean, he thinks my name is Macy Flores for one,” she said, leaning back in her chair. “I can’t even tell him my real name. That would definitely come up in a background check. And how am I supposed to work and be a Charmed One?”

“We can get you magical documentation for the background check. That’s no problem at all. You worked in Hilltowne and were a Charmed One. Maggie and Mel both have jobs. You deserve to have something for yourself, too. Do you want to take this job?” he asked her, turning to face her and looking into her eyes. 

She sighed. “Kind of? I mean, I really miss being in a lab every day. And Julian’s foundation is doing some great work.”

“Then I think you should consider taking it," he said, nodding emphatically. "Macy, you deserve to have a life outside of magic. Besides, you’re brilliant and you should be sharing that with the world.” 

“And you’re okay with me working with Julian?” she asked hesitantly. 

“You don’t need my permission,” he said, gently rolling his eyes. “I trust you.” 

“Okay, because there’s absolutely nothing there, at least not on my end,” she said, reassuring him. “There may be from him, but I’m not at all interested. There’s only one man that I want,” she smirked.

He put his arm around her waist, pulling her closer until her head was resting against his shoulder. “Oh, and who might that be?”

“I mean, it’s clearly Gideon,” she said. “But since he’s fictional, I’ll just move on to the next best thing.” She leaned in and kissed him softly. 

He laughed against her lips. “I’ll have to figure out a way to surpass your fictional crush then.” She moved over into his lap, allowing them to deepen the kiss. They got lost in each other before her phone buzzed again.

They broke apart as she looked down at the message. “Julian’s at Safe Space and he said he needs an answer soon.” 

“You should go talk to him then. Get some more details. Ask some questions. Seriously consider doing this, though,” he said, resting his hand at the back of her head and playing with her curls. “You deserve this, love.” 

“Okay,” she said, smiling softly. “I’m going to head to Safe Space then.”

“I’m going to go to Idaho and do some surveillance on this MRTI facility. We’ll come back and formulate a plan together afterwards? Meet back here for lunch? I’ll text the others.” 

She sent a quick text to Julian, telling him she could be there in a few minutes to discuss the job offer. She had a lot of questions. She still doubted if it was the right thing to do. Mel and Maggie had jobs, yes, but they were largely covers in order to stay close to the Command Center. This would put her at risk for exposing herself. It would be so nice to feel like she had more of a purpose again, though. 

She walked in to Safe Space and quickly found Julian, apologizing for the delay in getting back with him. As they sat and drank their coffee, she went through her list of questions. With every word, she got more excited about the prospect of this job. 

* * *

Maggie and Mel went to Safe Space early that morning for a training session with Jordan. Since Harry was taking Jordan under his wing to teach him potions and other magical tools, Jordan was trying to repay the favor by doing self-defense classes with each of the women. They had only had a couple so far, but he was enjoying his role as a teacher for all of them. They all had unique fighting styles that reflected their personalities. Macy was analytical, clearly thinking through the next five moves before she did anything. Mel was impulsive, letting her opponents’ moves dictate how she would respond. Maggie was passionate, each jab landing with the full force of her fury. 

“Alright, there we go,” Jordan yelled as he coached the two sisters through a sparring session. “Mel, keep your spaces wide. Maggie, keep those feet moving.” 

The sisters moved in a circle, throwing out jab after jab. Finally, Maggie took her opportunity and swept her leg against Mel’s, knocking her to the ground. She threw her arms up in victory while her older sister laid there for a moment. 

“I have got to get my mojo back,” Mel said. “I can’t believe my little sister is kicking my ass.”

“Yeah, well, your little sister has been training for this moment for years,” Maggie said, laughing and reaching out her hand to help Mel up. “Want to go another round?”

“You just want to show off for Jordan,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“What? You’d be doing the same thing if Ruby were here watching you, don’t even lie. When you’re dating someone that hot, you take every opportunity you can to show off,” she joked, looking over at Jordan. 

He came over and put his arms around Maggie from behind. “Neither of you need to show off. You’re both making great progress. Mel, you had Maggie against the ropes a couple of times. Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll get her next time.” 

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be rooting for me here?” Maggie said, turning to look at him.

“In fights with demons, always,” he said. “In training, all three of you need to be prepared. So, I’m staying neutral. Just call me Switzerland.” 

“You’re really taking your deputy Whitelighter status seriously, aren’t you?” Mel said, impressed. 

“Yeah, I am. Harry’s a great teacher and I love learning all the potions and everything. I just want to be useful to you all, though. I need to if it’s going to keep me alive,” he said.

Maggie squeezed his hand. “You are useful to us. And I think you’re helping to balance the scales of justice with all your help, so don’t worry. You’re going to stay alive. I’m going to make sure of it.” 

He leaned down and kissed her. “I would never want to go up against you in a fight, Mags. You’re easily the most formidable person I’ve ever met.” Mel cleared her throat and he stood back up. “Honestly, all of you, since you got the Power of Three back. It’s amazing. The Faction doesn’t stand a chance.”

“Let's hope not,” Maggie said, checking her phone. “Harry wants us to come home for lunch. He said he and Macy found more information and we need to strategize.” 

“You mean they were actually able to work in between all the making out,” Mel scoffed, jokingly. “Impressive.” 

“Aw, come on, I think it’s sweet,” Maggie said, as the three of them walked down the stairs to head home. “After everything they’ve been through this year, they both deserve this. Besides, you’ve got Ruby. Macy and Harry deserve to be happy with each other.” 

“Then why is Macy hugging Julian right now?” Mel said, stopping in her tracks. 

“What?” Maggie said, looking around. She spotted Macy pulling away from a hug with Julian. He handed her a thin box that she slipped into her jacket. “Oh, hell no.” She ran ahead and caught up to her oldest sister. “Hey sis, did you get the text? We need to get home.”

Macy gave her a weird look. “Yeah, I was just getting ready to head out.”

“You must be Maggie,” Julian said, reaching out his hand to shake hers as Mel and Jordan walked over. “And you’re Mel? It’s nice to put faces with the names. I have to get going, too. But Macy, I need an answer by Sunday. And I’ll still see you Thursday night for the gala, right? There’s a bunch of people I want you to meet.”

She nodded. “Yep, I will be there. Looking forward to it.” 

Julian nodded to Maggie and Mel. “You guys should come, too. Macy can fill you in on it, but the more, the merrier.”

“Yeah, of course,” Maggie said, in a high-pitched chipper voice. Macy gave her a weird look, trying to figure out what her problem was. 

Julian said goodbye and walked away. Maggie grabbed Macy’s hand and nearly dragged her out of the cafe. “What the fuck are you doing?” she asked, angrily. “How can you do this to Harry?”

“Seriously, Mace, what the hell?” Mel asked, equally irate. “Does he even know you’re here?”

“Guys, calm down,” Jordan said. “I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation here.” He turned to look at Macy with a subtle warning look on his face. ”I know Macy wouldn’t do Harry wrong like that.” 

“Seriously? All of you?” Macy said. “Harry knows I’m here. Julian offered me a job. I came here to ask some more questions and figure out if I want to take it. I was going to turn it down, but Harry convinced me to at least consider it.” 

“Oh, that’s awesome,” Maggie said, scrunching up her nose. “Wait, then what’s Thursday?”

“Julian’s foundation’s annual gala. He wants to introduce me to some of the other members of the team I’d be heading up. Do you really think I’d go behind Harry’s back like that?” she asked, hurt. 

The three mumbled their apologies, embarrassed. Maggie looked up, abashed. “I panicked when I saw you hugging him,” she said. 

“It’s fine,” Macy said. “Julian’s a hugger. We’re just friends. He may be my boss soon, anyway. Now, come on, let’s go home.”

* * *

They walked in to find Harry in the kitchen, pulling out stuff to make sandwiches for everyone. He had spent the past hour observing the facility in Idaho. He had a general idea for a plan, but it was going to be contingent on Jordan’s help. 

Macy walked over to help Harry carry plates to the table, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Hey, how was Idaho?” 

“Good. How was Julian? Did you take the job?” he asked, anxious for her. The more he thought about this opportunity, the more excited he was for her. He knew how much she had been struggling since leaving Hilltowne. He really wanted this for her.

She shook her head. “I got a lot more information, but I told him I needed more time to think about it. I have to give him an answer by the end of the weekend.” 

He tilted his head to the side. “Macy…”

“Nope, not right now,” she said. “We have a plan to formulate.” 

They sat down at the table with the others. Harry described what he and Macy had found this morning in the DNA profiles and how it led to the warehouse in Idaho. “It’s getting inside that is going to be our problem,” he explained. “There’s magic detectors at nearly every entrance. There’s some sort of magic blocker that prevents me from orbing inside. There’s only one entrance I’ve been able to find that has no sort of magic detector.” 

“Okay, so clearly that’s our entrance in,” Maggie said. “What’s the problem?”

“It’s the entry where they bring in the bodies. They have guards checking and no one gets in without a dead body,” he explained.

“So, we just need a dead body then,” Mel said, sarcastically. “Great, that should be easy to find.”

“Unless,” Macy said, looking over at Jordan. “We just need a body that appears to be dead.” 

Jordan looked at her. “Wait, what? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Yes,” Harry said, smiling that Macy had come up with the exact same plan he had. He looked over at Mel. “The Romeo & Juliet sleeping potion from the Book of Shadows. Do we have everything we need for it?”

Mel nodded, realizing where he was going with this. “Yeah, I think I even have some brewed already. That’ll work perfectly.” 

“I’m just going to point out that Romeo and Juliet died at the end of their story, so any potion named after them doesn’t fill me with confidence here,” Jordan said. 

“It will just slow your heart rate and lower your blood pressure, so that you’ll appear dead. It wears off after 30 minutes or so. You and I will go in. You’ll essentially take a nap for 30 minutes and I’ll wander around the facility,” Harry said. “What could be easier?”

“Right, but you’re certain this potion wears off,” Maggie asked. “Because I really don’t want you to kill my boyfriend.” 

“Don’t worry, Mags,” Mel reassured her. “It wears off.”

“Well, I’ve nearly died on most of our other missions,” Jordan said, laughing nervously. “Besides, I trust you. All of you.” 

“So, what do we do while you guys are there?” Macy asked.

“Go to the Command Center. Keep an eye on the witchboard. You can’t go into the facility with me because of the magic detectors. I can get in with Jordan, but it’ll look suspicious if four people are trying to deliver one body,” Harry said. “We shouldn’t be gone long at all.”

The five quickly finished their lunch and prepared to go on their separate missions. Mel went to grab the sleeping potion from her stock in the attic while Maggie and Jordan waited for her in the living room. Macy and Harry cleared the dishes. 

“You’re just doing basic reconnaissance, right?” Macy asked, worried. 

“Just trying to get a look around in there,” he said, putting his arms around her and pulling her close. “Gather some information, bring it back, and we can develop a plan.” 

She put her arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss. “Good.”

“Besides, we have plans tonight,” he said, smiling at her. 

“Oh, we do?” she teased. “And what are these plans?” 

“Now that is privileged information, Dr. Vaughn,” he said, smiling. “Just know that it involves you and me and spending some time together somewhere other than this house or the Command Center. Somewhere just the two of us.” 

“I like the way that sounds,” she said, smiling brightly. “But you have to give me a little more information than that. I need to know what to wear.”

“Slightly fancy, but nothing extravagant,” he said. “Just wear whatever makes you comfortable. You know I’ll think you look beautiful in anything.” 

She leaned in to kiss him softly. “We’re really doing this?” she asked him. 

“We’re _finally_ doing this,” he corrected her. 

“Stop making out and let’s go to work,” Mel yelled from the front room. 

“We were not making out,” Macy yelled back. “At this particular moment,” she added, so only Harry could hear her. “But she’s right, we need to get going.” She reluctantly pulled her arms back from him. 

“There will be plenty of time for this later tonight,” he said, leaning in for one last kiss. They walked back to the living room and split off to go on their separate missions. 

* * *

“You know you two are ridiculous, right?” Mel said affectionately as they entered the Command Center. 

“I think you mean ridiculously cute,” Maggie said. “Just ignore her.” 

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled the two of you are finally together,” Mel reassured her. “I just want to point out you don’t have to constantly be attached to him.”

“Yeah, that’s just because you’ve never kissed Harry,” Macy said, staring off into space. 

A light on the witchboard went off in Oakland. “Alright, focus now,” Mel said. “Let’s get to work.”

Macy ran down to the control panel and opened the portal. “Let’s go.” 

They exited it to find a young woman running up a concrete ramp as a horde of hornets pursued her. The woman screamed as the Charmed Ones blocked her path. “What are you doing?” she screamed.

“Don’t worry,” Macy said. “You’re safe now.” She reached out and sent an energy blast repelling the hornets backwards. 

The hornets congregated into a clump and turned into multiple demons. There were nearly 20 of them surrounding the witches. 

“Or maybe not,” Maggie muttered. 

A demon who appeared to have been a rejected Jersey Shore cast member walked over, sneering at the sisters. “Oh, come on, witches, you’re stealing my birthday present. I want her back,” he said, pointing at the witch and attempting to pull her to him telekinetically.

“Trust me, frat boy, you’re not her type,” Mel said, reaching out and pulling the witch back.

The demon stopped, dropping his hand. “Do you even know who I am?”

“No,” Maggie scoffed. “And we don’t care. So take your little friends and go home. Your playdate is over.” 

“I’ve got a better idea,” he said, snapping his fingers and sending the hornets towards the sisters. They looked at each other and conjured the Power of Three, causing the hornets to freeze in place and drop to the ground before vanishing into dust. The demon looked at them, shocked. “You have no idea what you’ve just done,” he said as he joined the hornets and vanished into dust. 

The Charmed Ones made sure the witch was okay before heading back through the portal. “That was a freaking clusterfuck,” Maggie yelled. “That was a whole horde of demons. Abby’s supposed to be keeping them under control. What fucking use is she if witches are still going to get attacked like that?” 

“I don’t know, but we’re going to end this now,” Macy said. She pulled up another portal, this time to Abby’s apartment. “Let’s go.” 

They walked through straight into Abby’s apartment. “You betrayed us,” Macy yelled as she exited. 

“We walked into a freaking ambush,” Maggie added. 

Abigael got up and walked over to them angrily. “Yeah, well, you all killed Alfie, the de facto leader of the Carnals. That would be bad enough on its own, but he’s also the last male of his line, so congratulations, you just created a power vacuum in the demon world. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is going to be vying to take his place now. So, what you did was create a massive political headache and laid it right on my doorstep.”

Mel moved toward her, her hands flying around in anger. “They broke the truce. You were supposed to keep your side in line. This is on you. This is your failure.”

“Oh please, Angry Spice,” Abby scoffed. “Put a sock in it before I send a firebolt your way.” 

“Not if I turn you into a popsicle first,” Mel said, pulling her hands back.

“You three are marked women,” Abigael said, looking at the other sisters. “The demons all want your heads on spikes. If you continue to vex me like this, I might just be inclined to do that.”

“Maybe we’ll take yours first,” Mel yelled back.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Macy added, her jaw clenched with anger. 

“Enough,” Maggie yelled, stepping between her sisters and the Overlord. “This isn’t helping. There has to be a way to repair this situation. Negotiating this truce was in all of our best interests.”

Mel turned to glare at her sister. “Negotiating with terrorists never works, Maggie.” She turned back to Abigael. “Demons can’t be trusted.” 

Abigael crossed her arms and pursed her lips. “For once, I agree with Militant Molly here. Chit-chat won’t work. Demons only respond to fear and violence.”

Maggie shook her head in frustration. “That just means both sides end up dead. Come on, there has to be something they want, something that we can exploit.”

Macy glared at Abigael. “You do know that an all-out war would be bad for you, too.” 

Abigael looked down, not wanting to admit the eldest Charmed One was right. “There might be something we can exploit. Let’s just say I’m not the only female demon who chafes at our patriarchal structure.” 

* * *

Harry and Jordan stood across the street from the facility, waiting for a van to pull up in order to execute their plan. It seemed they had been coming in regularly this morning, so Harry was certain one would be coming along shortly. He continued to look around nervously.

“Dude, I’m the one who is going to be technically dead for 30 minutes,” Jordan said, looking at the Whitelighter. “Why do you look nervous?”

“It’s not that,” Harry said, sighing. “I’m not worried about our plan at all. As long as I pay attention to the time, we’ll be fine.” 

“Okay, then what’s your deal?” Jordan asked. “It looks like we’ll be waiting a minute for a van to pull up.”

He sighed. “It’s Macy.”

Jordan narrowed his eyes. “You two have been walking around in your own little honeymoon bubble for the past week. You were just all over each other. What could possibly have changed between when we left the house and got here?” 

“I’m taking her out on our first date tonight,” he said, grimacing. 

“Okay, why do you look like you’re being tortured by the thought of that?” he asked, confused. 

“Because I have no idea where to take her. Jordan, I haven’t been on a date since the 50s and I only have vague memories of that, since those memories were stripped from me. Being a Whitelighter doesn’t exactly leave a ton of time for a romantic life. I have no idea what to do,” he said, becoming increasingly more frantic.

“Just calm the hell down,” Jordan said, laughing. “It’s Macy. She’ll love whatever you do.”

“Exactly, it’s Macy,” Harry said, trying to get Jordan to understand. “She deserves the world. Everything I think of doesn’t seem like it’s enough.” 

“Well, what have you thought of so far?” 

“Gelato and walking around in Venice. Dinner at the Eiffel Tower. Going to see the Northern Lights. I can orb us anywhere or we can take a portal, so we can do literally anything in the world. That’s not helping matters,” he said, frustrated.

“Rein yourself in,” Jordan said, putting his hands on Harry’s shoulders. “Stay local. There’s this place called The Pink Door. It’s not super fancy, but it’s still a special occasion place. The food is great. They always have some sort of entertainment going, like cabaret or trapeze artists, so you’ll have something to talk about if conversation stalls. Not that it’ll be a problem with the two of you. After dinner, walk down near the waterfront or go over to Pike Place Market. Find a local shop where you can buy her a memento of your first date together. Nothing extravagant, just something meaningful. The activity isn’t what’s important. It’s the company that matters.” 

Harry nodded, breathing easily. “Okay, as soon as we’re done here, I’ll get a reservation set up. Thank you, Jordan.”

“No problem, dude,” he said. “Now, come on. A van just came back.” They walked over to grab a gurney out of the back of the van. Jordan climbed into the body bag and Harry put on a spare pair of coveralls he found. “You promise this isn’t going to actually kill me.”

“Promise,” Harry assured him. “Maggie would murder me if I killed you.” 

“Yeah, that’s pretty true,” he said, smiling to himself.

“If I haven’t said it yet, I’m glad she has you in her life,” Harry said. “You’re good for her.”

“She’s pretty great for me,” he said. “Now, hand over that potion. Let’s do this thing.” Harry handed him the potion and he quickly drank the whole thing. He paused for a moment. “Are you sure this works? I don’t feel a…” His eyes rolled back and he fell backwards, hitting his head on the van door on the way down.

“Yep, it works,” Harry said, zipping up the body bag and wheeling him through the door. 

* * *

Abigael took the Charmed Ones to Beverly Hills. They arrived at a mansion and walked through the door. Dozens of people milled about, all looking like they were fresh off the pages of a teen magazine or extras on a CW show. 

Maggie’s mouth dropped as she recognized several different people. “Wait, is that Brandy the Contour Queen?” she asked, pointing over to a woman dressed in a bikini filming a makeup tutorial. She noticed a large portrait on the wall. “Omigod, we’re at Lee Duhon’s house? The leader of spon con is a demon? Are you serious?”

Mel looked at her sister, irritated and confused. “Maggie, pretend like we don’t speak Instagram.” 

“Lee is the ultimate influencer,” Maggie explained. “She has like 10 million Instagram followers.”

Macy looked at Mel. “Peddling crap that makes people feel inadequate. Seems pretty demonic to me.” Mel nodded in agreement. 

“Yes, well, demons need to make a living, too,” Abigael said, looking around for the demon. “There she is.” 

They walked past two more makeup tutorials and a shirtless man filming an ad for a protein powder as they walked into Lee’s office. 

“Abigael,” Lee sneered. “What brings you here?”

“Purely business,” Abigael assured her.

“Ah, now you’re speaking my love language,” Lee said, jokingly. She looked over at the Charmed Ones. “And who are these people?” 

Abigael sighed. “These are the Charmed Ones.” 

Lee glared at Abigael, her eyes glowing red with anger. “You dare bring Alfie’s murderers into my home? Are you insane?” Her finger vibrated until it changed shape to a long brown talon. 

“He attacked us first,” Mel said, glaring at Lee. “We were just defending ourselves.” 

Abigael put her hand out, signaling for Mel to calm down. She turned back to Lee. “I thought you of all people would be thrilled Alfie was gone. Didn’t he take 20 percent commission?”

Lee turned back to Abigael, her eyes returning to their normal brown. “That doesn’t mean I want his killers on my couch.”

“Alfie violated our truce,” Macy said, trying to stay diplomatic.

“Why would I care about a truce between our sworn enemies?” Lee scoffed. She turned back to Abigael. “And what the hell are you doing working with witches, anyway?”

Abigael shrugged. “The enemy of my enemy is my frenemy, or something like that.”

Maggie stepped forward. “Witches and demons are facing an existential threat called the Faction. A group of humans who have succeeded in stealing magic for themselves.”

“Humans?” Lee asked, sounding almost scared.

“Yes, and they’re coming for all of us,” Maggie continued. 

“Believe me,” Abigael jumped in. “Only something dire would have me working with these drips. Neither of us were happy with the way Alfie ran things. Perhaps it’s time for you, a strong, independent woman, to take the helm. A position no woman has ever had the privilege of holding.”

Lee leaned back in her chair as she studied Abigael and the Charmed Ones closely. “I’m listening. Now, what makes you think the Carnals won’t take revenge against a woman taking charge of the bloodline?”

Abigael sat down on the couch and crossed her legs. “Because anyone who attempts to dethrone said woman will have to contend with me.” 

Mel nodded. “And us.” 

Macy turned to Lee. “She’s empowering you to have a say in your own governance. So you don’t have someone taking a cut of your hard-earned profits.” 

Lee looked at Macy incredulously and scoffed. “Oh, please. Abigael has no interest in empowering me. This is about using my skill to maintain her position.” She turned back to Abigael. “I know I’m nothing more than a tool to you. Which, as a demon, I do respect. So, fine. You scratch my back, I’ll have yours.”

Abigael smiled and reached out to shake Lee’s hand. She looked up to see Godric walking into the office. “What are you doing here? We’re in the middle of something,” she asked, confused. 

He stopped in front of her and sneered before snapping his fingers. “Not anymore, you’re not.” A cloud of smoke wafted in from above and turned into multiple demons. Parker followed the demons into the room. 

“Wait, what is he doing here?” Maggie yelled. 

Parker stopped in his tracks, shocked to see her. He shook his head and turned back to Abigael. “She faked my death to make herself the Overlord. Isn’t that right, my dear sister?” 

Abigael clenched her jaw. “I have no comment at this time.” 

Godric turned to Lee. “I’m only here for Abigael’s head. Hand her over and I’ll match whatever she offered you.” 

“You don’t have anything to offer her,” Abigael yelled out, irritated. “You work for me.” 

Lee looked at Abigael and sneered. “You manipulated me under false pretenses. Sorry, Abigael. You’re on your own.” She turned back to Godric. “Finish whatever you need to do and get the hell out of my house.” 

Parker turned to his sister and began to conjure a ball of energy in his hands. Maggie stepped out in front of him. “Parker, we don’t want to hurt anyone, but we will if we have to,” she said, putting her hands out.

He pushed past her. “Stay out of this, Maggie. This is between me and her.”

Abigael put her hands out next to her sides. “I’ll take those odds.” She pointed her finger at a lit candle on Lee’s desk and conjured it into a fireball.

“This cannot be happening,” Maggie muttered. 

Godric looked over at the youngest Charmed One. “You’re right. This isn’t happening.” He snapped his fingers and suddenly, all the witches in the room had their powers blocked. “Now, cuff them.” The demons walked forward to place power blocking cuffs on Abigael and the Charmed Ones. As the cuffs closed around their wrists, the four of them grimaced in pain, energy shooting into their wrists to prevent their magic from working. Godric turned toward the Charmed Ones. “I only came here for Abigael, but finally killing you witches will be such a nice bonus.” 

Parker reached out for Maggie and Macy. As soon as his hands closed around their arms, he orbed them away to safety.

Godric sighed and turned back to Abigael. “I warned you. It would be their heads or yours.” He turned to Mel and smiled sinisterly. “Now, it’s both.” 

* * *

Harry pushed the gurney into the hallway, looking around. “Hey, where are you going?” an employee yelled at him, walking over. 

“Sorry, it’s my first day,” Harry said, taking on an American accent. “I wasn’t sure where to go.” 

“The refrigerator room is over this way,” the man said, pointing to the other hallway. He unzipped the body bag and held his fingers against Jordan’s neck. “Yep, definitely dead.” He looked up at Harry expectantly. 

Harry gave him a blank look in return. The man sighed in irritation. “Where’s your paperwork? I can’t process your stiff without the blue triplicates. Did they not go through any of this in training with you?” 

Harry snapped his fingers and looked up at the ceiling. “Right, I knew I was forgetting something. They’re out in the van. I’ll be right back.” He put his hands on the gurney, going to push it back with him. 

The man gave him a strange look. “You can leave the body here. You don’t have to traipse all over with him.” 

Harry looked down hesitantly. “Yeah, of course. I’ll be right back.” The employee took the gurney and pushed it into the refrigerated room. Harry watched carefully, so he could figure out where to retrieve Jordan later. He looked down at his watch and saw five minutes had already elapsed since Jordan had taken the potion. He set his watch for 23 minutes, giving himself a bit of wiggle room to get back before Jordan would wake. 

He turned the corner and took off his coveralls. He found a trashcan and stored them under the liner. He peered into any rooms with windows in the doors, trying to get into a couple of them, but finding them locked. He came upon an area marked “restricted” and looked around. He tried to orb into the room, but found his magic was blocked. He looked through the window and saw dozens of pneumatic tubes lining the walls. 

He walked away, trying to see if he could find any other open doors that would allow him to see what was in the tubes. As he walked down the hallway, a woman came around the corner and nearly slammed straight into him. She looked at him, shocked. “Jimmy?” she asked. “You came back?” 

_ Oh shit, _ he thought to himself. He swallowed nervously and tried to affect his Darklighter’s attitude. He smiled cockily at her. “Of course I came back. Where else would I have gone?” 

* * *

Parker, Maggie, and Macy landed just outside of Safe Space. Maggie glared at him and walked away. “I cannot believe you,” she said, walking into the building. Macy and Parker followed closely behind her.

“Oh come on, Vera,” Parker said. “I got you and Macy out of there. I basically saved your life.”

“Our life wasn’t in danger until you came along,” Maggie said, turning around to yell at him. She looked around, realizing they were in the lobby and could easily be overheard. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the switchroom. Macy followed and opened the door to the Command Center. 

“Plus, you left Mel behind,” Maggie yelled, once they were safely in the Command Center. “So, what? Am I supposed to thank you for only possibly getting one of my sisters killed?” She stomped over to the witchboard and turned it to demonspotting mode. “Revela daemonem inimicum.” She turned to Macy, who was looking at her worriedly. “We need to go back there.”

“We need a plan first,” Macy said, looking over at Parker nervously. Maggie was letting her emotions get the best of her and his presence was not helping matters.

“I have a plan,” Maggie yelled. “It’s to kick Godric’s ass and save our sister.”

Parker scoffed. “Please, Godric will be long gone by now.” 

“Yeah, which means my sister probably is, too,” she said, moving towards him. “So fuck you for that.” 

“You guys are the ones who created this mess,” he said incredulously. “Not me.”

“We were trying to stabilize the Demon World,” she said, yelling directly in his face. “And you fucked that all up. For what? So you can become the Demon Overlord again?”

“No!” he yelled at her. “So I can get my fucking life back.” He stepped backwards and sighed, lowering his voice to a normal volume. “Godric agreed to let me go in exchange for my help. And for the record, I never wanted to be the damn Overlord in the first place.”

Maggie crossed her arms and scoffed. “Really? Because the last time I checked, you did some pretty despicable things in order to stay in power. You hurt so many people, Parker. You hurt me,” she said, her eyes tearing up. 

Macy stepped in and put her arm on her sister’s shoulder. “Maggie…”

“I just saved your life,” Parker said, irritated.

“Why don’t you get that I never needed you to save my life?” Maggie said, throwing her arms up in frustration. “I didn’t need you to come in on your white horse and whisk me away like I’m some poor, defenseless princess. I’m a fucking Charmed One. I’m one of the most powerful magical beings in the world.” 

Macy pulled Maggie’s arm, trying to get her to step away. “Maggie, take a breath. Come over here with me.” 

Maggie turned to glare at Parker. “Don’t touch anything,” she said through gritted teeth. 

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry.” 

Macy moved in front of Maggie in order to block her view of Parker. “I know this is complicated and we’re scared for Mel right now. But we need Parker in order to get Mel back.”

“It’s not complicated for me,” she scoffed. “He’s awful and I don’t want anything to do with him.” 

“Which makes it complicated since he’s our current expert on the Demon World,” Macy said, trying to be the voice of reason. “You and I have no idea where Mel could be, what they could be doing to her, what their purpose is for her. He knows all of that. So, you need to stop letting your emotions rule you right now. Focus on Mel. Once we have her back, go back to hating Parker with every fiber of your being. But until then, we need him.” 

Maggie sighed, realizing her sister was right. “I just hate him so much,” she said, defeated. “I never wanted to see him again.” 

“I know you didn’t,” Macy said, pulling her sister in for a hug. “We just have to get through this and hopefully, this will be the last time you ever see him.” 

She pulled out her phone to send a quick text to Harry. “Major upset in the demon world. Parker overthrew Abigael. Mel and Abby got taken. Could use your help once you’re done.” 

“Texting Harry?” Maggie sighed. 

“Yeah, he hasn’t checked in yet and he normally would have by now,” Macy said, putting her phone away. “He and Jordan should already be back.”

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Maggie said, reassuring her sister. “One crisis at a time. Let’s get Mel back. Then you can cheer me up tonight by letting me get you ready for your date with Harry. Deal?” 

Macy smiled and nodded. “Deal.” 

They heard a series of dings coming from the board. “Um, guys, I don’t know what this means,” Parker said, getting their attention. 

The sisters walked back over, seeing a large concentration of lights. “Why is New Mexico lit up like a Christmas tree?” Macy said, turning to Parker. 

“A demon Christmas tree,” Maggie clarified. “What is in New Mexico?” 

“The Sanctuary of Zagan,” Parker sighed. “That must be where Godric is anointing himself as the Overlord.” 

“But how can he anoint himself?” Maggie asked, confused. “I thought the Overlord had to be part of your bloodline.” 

“He can do it if he takes out the old Overlord and a Charmed One in one fowl swoop,” Parker snarked. 

Macy nodded. “Simultaneously destroying his rival and the Power of Three.”

Maggie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes and glared at Parker. “Fine, maybe we do need your help.”

Parker nervously smiled. “Don’t worry. I got your backs. You can trust me.”

“The jury is still out on that one,” Maggie said. “But you’re the only way we can get our sister back.” 

“How can we infiltrate a demon gathering without being recognized and eviscerated on sight?” Macy said, turning to her sister. 

“They just can’t see us,” Maggie said. “Remember how we got Layla back?” 

Macy realized what Maggie meant and smiled. “We have more on hand, right?” 

Maggie nodded, running over to the cabinet. “Harry just taught Jordan how to make it. We’ve got a fresh batch ready to go.” 

* * *

Jordan jerked awake on the gurney. He looked around carefully, not seeing anyone else in the room. “Harry,” he whisper-yelled. “Harry, where the fuck are you?” He carefully stood up, realizing he had to get out of there before someone came in and wondered why the corpse was no longer so corpse-like. 

He stepped out into the hallway, seeing the corner of Harry’s coveralls sticking out of a trash can. They had been slightly baggy on Harry, so they might fit him well enough. He put them on quickly and grabbed a mop that was leaning against the wall. He looked around while he tried to blend in. 

As he continued to look around, he saw a group of people walking towards him, including Harry. He sighed with relief and started to walk in the Whitelighter’s direction. 

Harry caught his eye and almost imperceptibly shook his head, hoping Jordan would get the message. 

“The boss is going to be so happy to know you’re safe, Jimmy,” a woman said, putting her arm around Harry. 

“Yes, well, I always bounce back,” Harry said, trying to adopt Jimmy’s smarminess. 

They walked away. Jordan began to panic. He and Harry had left their phones back in Seattle, not wanting to run the risk of being caught with them. The woman had called him Jimmy. He vaguely remembered Maggie saying that was Harry’s Darklighter’s name. Fuck, this was turning from a reconnaissance mission to a rescue mission and he was woefully ill-prepared. 

* * *

Before they opened the portal to New Mexico, Macy pulled out her phone and sent another quick text to Harry. “Have to go to New Mexico to rescue Mel and Abigael. Will let you know if I’ll be running late for our date. Please text me back and let me know you’re okay.” 

“Still nothing?” Maggie asked, concerned. “Harry never goes radio silent like this.”

“I know,” Macy said, her brow furrowing. “Maybe he just doesn’t have good reception. It’s going to be okay. Come on, let’s go get Mel.” 

Parker and the sisters opened the portal to New Mexico and jumped through, exiting just outside the sanctuary. Maggie and Macy quickly drank their cloaking serum before stepping into the back of the room. Godric stood in front of them on a stage with two pyres on either side. Macy started to get uncomfortable flashbacks to the nightclub in Oregon. Everything had turned out okay then. She had no reason to think this would be any different. She and Maggie carefully moved towards the pyres, taking care not to bump into anything or anyone.

“Now, who’s ready for an execution?” Godric yelled, trying to hype up his crowd. The demons erupted in thunderous applause. Mel and Abigael looked at each other nervously, each tied to their own pyre. “I stand before you on sacred ground to rid us, once and for all, of the false Overlord and witch-loving Abigael Jameson-Caine and one of the ‘so-called Charmed Ones,” he sneered. “As I spill their blood on the altar of our one true Overlord, the flames of Hell will imbue me with the abilities of our divine leader, giving me the power to restore the Demon World to its rightful place.” 

He moved over and placed a knife against Abigael’s throat. “Any last words, Overlord?” he said, menacingly. 

“Fuck you,” Abigael sneered. 

Parker materialized on stage in a puff of smoke. A demon yelled from the audience, “Isn’t he dead?”

“What are you doing?” Godric asked him, confused.

“No one kills my sister or steals the crown but me,” Parker said, glancing over at the pyres. He hoped he had bought enough time for Maggie and Macy to make their way to the stage, but he had to keep going. 

Macy stood behind Abigael’s pyre while Maggie was behind Mel’s. Mel felt the ropes around her start to loosen.

“Don’t react,” Maggie whispered. “We used the cloaking serum. We’re getting you out of here.” 

“What about Abigael?” Mel whispered, trying not to move her lips.

“Macy’s got her,” Maggie responded. 

Godric looked over and saw the ropes moving around the witches. “What the hell is going on?” he yelled.

Parker looked back at Godric, panicked, and conjured a fireball. Macy reached out her hand and the crowd of demons froze in place before being thrown backwards, still frozen. She looked down at her hand. Her powers had never done that before. 

Parker pushed Godric over as Abigael ran over to steal the ritual dagger back. “I’m taking this back,” she sneered. “But nice try, asshole.” 

The demons in the crowd continued to stay frozen in place, though a few seemed to start twitching slightly. “Macy, what the hell did you do?” Maggie asked her.

“I have no idea,” Macy said. “But let’s get out of here before it wears off.” She threw the marble to reopen the portal. The three Charmed Ones, Parker and Abigael all jumped back through it.

* * *

They landed in the Command Center. “Fucking hell, I need a drink,” Abigael said. “You all can join me. Or not. I really don’t care.” She walked upstairs to go to the bar.

“I’m just going to follow her,” Parker said. “But Maggie, come and find me. I need to talk to you.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “Fine, you did just help us. But give us a minute.”

The two Caine siblings left the room, allowing the Charmed Ones a moment of privacy. Maggie instantly reached out to hug Mel. “I was so worried,” she said, her voice thick with tears. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, sis,” Mel said, hugging her sister back. 

Macy stepped forward and put her arms around her sisters. “We were both worried. Especially when you were left with Abigael.”

“She was surprisingly not terrible,” Mel said. “She had the chance to save herself, but she made sure to get me out of there. I’m not going to question it right now.” She stepped back. “But what the hell were those new powers, Macy?” 

Macy shrugged. “I have no idea. They must be expanding. Is immobility a power?” 

“It is now,” Maggie said, reluctant to let go of Mel. “But it was badass, whatever it was.”

“It was,” Mel nodded. “Both of you were. I wouldn’t have survived without the two of you. Now, come on. I know at least one of you has plans tonight. And I could use a nice, hot shower.” 

Macy smiled, reaching for her phone. She still had no text from Harry. She was hoping he would be waiting for her at home. Maybe his phone had died? He always charged it, though. Something didn’t feel right to her.

“I’ll meet you guys there,” Maggie said. “I need to go talk to Parker. Hopefully, for the last time.” 

“Do you want us to stick around?” Mel asked. 

“No, it’ll be fine,” she nodded. “But Macy, don’t you dare start getting ready without me.”

Macy smiled. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t dream of it.” 

* * *

Maggie walked upstairs to find Parker sitting in the lobby, waiting for her. “Hey Vera,” he said, smiling shyly. 

She stood in front of him, her arms crossed. “You wanted to talk. So, talk.”

“Can we go somewhere a little more private?” he asked, trying and failing to charm her.

“No, you can say what you need to say and then be gone,” she said. 

He sighed. “I had Abigael strip away my demon powers. It’s what I wanted all along anyway.” He laughed slightly. “My dad had that dagger and the power to make me human the entire time, but he put me through years of agony. He put my mom through years of agony.”

Maggie dropped her arms to her side and sighed. “That just made you vulnerable. How are you supposed to protect yourself from the Demon World now?” 

“The Demon World is a mess,” Parker said. “All I want is to leave it behind and start fresh.” He reached out to grab her hands. “I want to start fresh with you.” 

She pulled her hands back. “Are you insane? Tell me you did not have your powers stripped in some delusion that we would get back together.” 

“Come on, Vera,” he said, smiling at her. “We work great together.”

She scoffed and shook her head. “You just don’t get it. You have taken no accountability for any of your actions. You have made so many bad choices and hurt so many people. You’ve hurt me. You’ve hurt my family. Just because you can’t turn into smoke or conjure fireballs any more, it doesn’t absolve you of all the mistakes you’ve made. I don’t want to be with you, Parker. I’m not the same person I was last year.”

“I’m really sorry for all of that,” he pleaded. “I want to be a better person. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

“It doesn’t count for enough,” she said. “I hope you can be a better person, but I’m not going to be there to see it. I’ve moved on, Parker.” 

“It’s that Jordan guy, isn’t it?” he said, dejected. 

“Yes and no,” she said. “Yes, I am dating Jordan and I’m really happy with him. But he’s not the reason I’m saying no to you. You have always seen me as someone who needs to be saved. From the moment we met in the cafe, you’ve tried to be the hero. But I don’t need or want that. I can save myself. You don’t see me as an equal. I need to be with someone who sees me for who I am. Who sees how strong I am. And that’s not you. I don’t think it could ever be you. You need someone who needs you. And I don’t need you. Not anymore.” 

He nodded, tears in his eyes. “That’s fair. For what it’s worth, I’ll always love you.” He reached out to hug her quickly. “Take care of yourself, Vera. I hope Jordan knows how lucky he is."

She pulled back and smiled. “Don’t worry. I remind him of it frequently.” 

* * *

Maggie walked home to see Macy and Mel sitting on the couch together. Macy was hunched over, crying. “What’s wrong?” she asked, rushing over to sit next to her sister. “Where are Harry and Jordan?”

“I don’t know,” Macy said, tears flowing down her face. “Both of their phones were sitting here when we got home. I don’t think they’ve ever come back from Idaho. Maggie, something is wrong. I know it. I can feel it.”

Maggie reached over to hug her sister. She was trying to stay calm, but she knew Macy was right. 

* * *

Jordan stood on the side of the road in Idaho. He had been following Harry and the Faction around the warehouse all day. Harry got into a limo with the others. Jordan watched as the limo sped away out of sight. He looked at the license plate and repeated it to himself, “C697714.” 

He needed to get back to the Charmed Ones. They had to save Harry. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all for now! I'll be back with chapter 18 on Sunday! Comments and kudos are very much appreciated.


	18. Chapter Eighteen: Search Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Charmed Ones and Jordan infiltrate The Faction in order to save Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After two ridiculously long chapters, here is a shorter one. As always, comments and kudos are encouraged and appreciated. 
> 
> A massive shoutout to my fantastic beta katasstropheee. She helped me so much with the beginning of this chapter, especially. I can't say enough how much she has helped to shape this story in her edits and the way she has helped me to think about everything while I was writing it. 
> 
> Some dialogue borrowed from 2x17: Search Party.

Jordan walked down the road in the dark. The cold chill of the night air settled on his body, seeping through his thin jacket. He started running through his options. He had no money. No phone. No identification. He was stuck in Who Knows Where, Idaho. He shivered and looked around nervously. Why on earth had he left his phone back home? He and Harry had been so stupid. He knew better. He knew you always needed a contingency plan. He rubbed his hands along his arms, trying to stay warm. Finally, he came upon a small gas station and walked inside.

“Hey man,” Jordan said, walking up to the cashier, relieved to see the man resembled him in both age and skin color. He really didn’t need to deal with some backwoods hick causing him trouble tonight. “I’m hoping you can help me. My car broke down a few miles back. My phone is dead and I seem to have left my wallet at home. I just need to call my girl to come and get me. Any chance I can use a phone?”

The cashier sized him up and decided he seemed harmless enough. “I can’t let you use the store phone, man. But there’s a payphone around the corner of the building.”

Jordan grimaced. “Any chance I can borrow a couple quarters? I have nothing on me.” 

The man nodded and reached into the tip jar, pulling out 75 cents. “No problem, man. People are insane around these parts. Call your girl and have her come get you before some crazy hillbilly finds you.” 

He took the quarters and nodded. “Thank you, man. Truly.” 

* * *

The sisters sat huddled together on the couch. It was well past midnight. Mel looked between her sisters nervously. Neither of them had said a word for hours. Maggie’s face was soaked with tears and she just stared into space. Macy shook her knee nervously, every noise making her jump. 

Maggie’s phone vibrated with an incoming call. She looked down at it, not recognizing the number. “Hello?” she answered quickly.

“Maggie, thank god you answered,” Jordan said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Jordan!” she yelled. “Omigod, where the fuck are you? Are you okay?” She started to feel her chest closing and tears threatened to spill over. The stress and worry of the past several hours seemed to hit her all at once. The room spun slightly. She shook her head, trying to focus on the sound of Jordan’s voice. 

“That’s Jordan?” Macy yelled. “Put him on speaker. Where is he? Where’s Harry? Are they okay?”

Maggie put the call on speaker. “Jordan, what’s going on?” she said, her voice shaking. 

“I’m okay,” he told her quickly. “I need you to come get me. I’m at a gas station in Idaho. Some place called KJ’s.” 

“Why do you need us to get you? Why can’t Harry just orb the two of you?” Macy asked, grabbing the phone. “Jordan, where the fuck is Harry?” 

He took a deep breath, not wanting to tell her this over the phone, but he saw no other way. “Macy, I need you not to panic. The Faction has Harry.” 

She dropped the phone and fell to the couch. Complete terror enveloped her. This could not be happening. Not again. They could not get this close again, only to have everything ripped away from them. All the sound dropped out around her. She could vaguely hear Mel saying something, but she had no idea what it was. 

“Macy,” Mel yelled, shaking her sister by the shoulder. “Look at me.” 

Macy blinked and slowly faced her younger sister. 

“I need you to stay right here,” Mel said, realizing Macy could not go with them. She was in shock. “Maggie and I are going to Idaho to get Jordan. We’re coming straight back. Then we’ll figure out a plan to get Harry.” 

Macy nodded, not fully comprehending what was happening. She briefly registered the sound of Maggie and Mel running out the door. All she could think about was Harry. His smile as he talked about their date. The feeling of his lips against hers. The sensation of his arms around her. She could not have experienced all those things for the last time. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him. Not before they even had a chance to really get started.

* * *

Maggie and Mel ran to the Command Center. Maggie frantically pulled up the location on the control panel and opened the portal. She barely waited for Mel before jumping through. They exited into the parking lot of the KJ’s. 

“Jordan?” Maggie yelled, panicking. She saw him standing against the building and ran to him, jumping on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. 

He caught her and held her tight. His eyes teared up a little once he realized how scared she was. “Maggie, I’m fine,” he said, softly into her ear. “I’m fine, babe. I promise.”

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” she said, making no move to let go of him. “If I wasn’t so relieved to see you, I’d kick your ass right now.” 

“I know, babe. I know,” he said, softly stroking her back. “But you have to let me go, so we can get home. We need to find Harry.” 

Maggie finally put her feet back on the ground and pulled away. She swiped at her eyes, trying to get rid of her tears. “Jordan, what the fuck happened?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. Our plan went sideways. We didn’t have a place to store our phones while we were in there, so we left them at your place. We were dumb. I’m sorry I scared you.”

Mel walked over to them. “Guys, we have to get back. I don’t want to leave Macy alone any longer than necessary.” 

He cringed. “She must be freaking out. Come on.” 

* * *

While Mel and Maggie were in Idaho, Macy had nothing to do but sit there and worry. She couldn’t move. She could barely breathe. All she could think was that this was exactly what she expected to happen. People didn’t stay in her life. All she did was lose people. Her mother to the necromancer’s curse and then to Charity. Her father to a far too early death. Galvin to his noble sacrifice. Why wouldn’t Harry fit that pattern?

Her sisters got to have a whole life with their mother. Their father was the one to return from the “dead.” Of course Maggie’s boyfriend would be the one to return from this expedition. That was the story of their sisterhood, wasn’t it? Macy was the one who was destined to consistently experience loss. 

The longer she sat there, the more she spiraled into her grief, already certain Harry was never going to return home. 

The others got home to find Macy in the exact spot they left her. Her breathing was shallow and she continued to look straight ahead. She saw them walk in the door and stood up, heading straight for Jordan. She punched him in the chest. “You were supposed to protect him. What the fuck happened?” she said, continuing to hit him, with every punch landing a little less forcefully as she began to cry.

He grabbed her wrists and pulled her into a hug. “I know, Macy. I’m sorry. Things fell apart. But we’re going to find him,” he said softly. 

Maggie grabbed her sister’s shoulder and pulled her back angrily. “This isn’t Jordan’s fault. The Faction is the enemy here. Don’t take this out on him.” 

Jordan put his hand on Maggie’s shoulder and pulled her to the side. “Hey, it’s okay. She’s upset and lashing out. She needs someone to be mad at right now. I can take it.”

Mel stepped over, trying to be the voice of reason. “Come on, let’s all sit down and find out what happened. There’s no point in laying blame anywhere right now. That’s not going to help us find Harry.” 

Macy and Maggie nodded. Mel put her arm around Macy and led her to the couch while Jordan reached out for Maggie. They all sat down. 

“Now, what happened?” Mel asked, looking at Jordan. 

“I was unconscious for the beginning of it,” Jordan said. “All I know is we got into the place okay. Harry set his watch to come back and get me before the potion wore off, but he didn’t make it back in time. I woke up and went out into the hallway. I found the coveralls he had left and pretended to be a janitor. Then Harry walked back by with a couple other people.”

“Who were they?” Mel asked, trying to gather as much information as possible. “What did they look like?”

“I can’t remember what the guy looked like, but there was a woman who had her arm around Harry. White, long brown hair, kind of striking brown eyes,” he described. 

Mel gasped. “Nadia, she was one of Ray’s buyers in Reno. Where did they go?”

“I tried to follow them around the warehouse, but I couldn’t get close enough to really hear what they were saying. They got into a limo and drove away, but I got a license plate.” He wrote it down and handed it to Mel.

She nodded and pulled out her phone. “I’m sending it to Choochi right now. Do you remember anything else?”

He nodded, looking over at Macy. “The woman kept calling him Jimmy. I think she thought he was the Darklighter. He was playing along with it. He caught my eye at one point and just shook his head to let me know not to come closer.” 

Maggie reached for Jordan’s hand and grabbed it tightly. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to find him.”

Macy turned her head sharply. “You cannot possibly know that, Maggie. We have no idea where Harry is or what they are doing to him. What happens if they figure out he isn’t the Darklighter? What if they’ve already figured out he isn’t the Darklighter?” she said, angrily.

“I don’t know, Macy,” Maggie said, glaring. “But yelling at us isn’t going to bring him back any faster.” 

“Stop it, both of you,” Mel snapped. “Maggie, why don’t you take Jordan into the kitchen and I’ll meet you there in a minute?” 

Jordan nodded, realizing the sisters needed to separate for a while. Macy was too on edge and Maggie was too caught in her own emotions right now. “Come on, Mags. It’s fine.”

Mel turned to Macy once they were alone. “I know that you’re terrified right now,” she said, holding her sister’s hand. “They have Harry and we don’t know that he is going to be okay. But instead of pushing us away, let us be here for you. Maggie and I know what it’s like to be scared while someone is missing. It’s exactly how we felt when the Darklighter had you. The only way we made it through that experience was by working together. Now, we can’t do anything until Choochi gets back to us and that may be tomorrow morning.”

Macy started to argue, but Mel put up her hand to stop her. “It is the middle of the night, Macy,” she said. “You lashing out isn’t helping anyone, especially you. Now, I’m going to go in the kitchen and fix some tea. I’m going to lace yours with a small amount of a calming potion and you are going to sleep for a few hours. I don’t want to drug you without your knowledge, so that’s why I’m telling you now.”

“I can’t lose him, Mel,” she said, starting to cry. “I can’t do it. I just got him.” 

She reached out to hold her older sister. “I know, Mace. We’re not going to lose him. We will do anything it takes to get him back. All of us. Together. Go upstairs and get into bed. I’ll bring you your tea.” 

Macy nodded. “Thank you,” she said, quietly. 

* * *

Maggie paced in the kitchen, agitated. “I can’t believe she’s seriously pissed right now. She’s being so irrational, like it’s your fault Harry got kidnapped.”

Jordan put his hands on Maggie’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Maggie, she’s not pissed. She’s terrified. She was supposed to be going out on a date with Harry tonight and now she doesn’t know if she’s ever going to see him again. So, just, cut her some slack tonight.” 

Maggie nodded. “You’re right,” she said, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head against his chest. “I was so scared I was never going to see you again,” she said, starting to cry. “I wasn’t ready to lose you.” 

He leaned down and kissed her purposefully, pulling her closer. She opened her mouth to him and deepened the kiss. He lifted her up and set her on the counter, stepping between her legs to be as close to her as possible. They continued to kiss feverishly for several minutes.

Mel walked into the kitchen and rolled her eyes. “Jesus, if it’s not one of you, it’s the other,” she said. “I do not have the patience for this tonight.” 

The two pulled apart quickly. “Sorry,” Jordan said. “How’s she doing?”

“Not great,” Mel said, seriously. “Harry showed you how to make that calming draught, right?” 

“Yeah, a few days ago,” he nodded. “I think all of it is at the Command Center, though. That’s where we were practicing that day.”

“Do you remember everything that goes in it?” she asked.

“Pretty sure, yeah,” he nodded.

“Good, get the ingredients. Let’s put your skills to the test. I’ll watch and make sure you aren’t accidentally going to poison Macy. Maggie, start making some tea.” 

“You got it, Teach,” he smiled. He went over to the cabinets and started pulling ingredients. He took them back over to the counter and put them in front of Mel to inspect. 

“You got it so far,” she nodded approvingly. “What’s the next step?”

He started meauring out the plants, only needing to verify a couple of steps with Mel. He crushed it into a powder and mixed it all together, watching it start to take form. It turned the right color and consistency, matching the one he made with Harry earlier in the week. He turned to Mel. “Did I get it right?”

She nodded. “You got it. You’re a natural with this stuff.” She grabbed a cup of tea and placed a couple drops of the draught into it. “Now, I’m going to go and drug our sister. You two should go get some rest. I’m hoping Choochi will have an answer for us in the morning.” 

“Wait, let me come with you,” Maggie said. “I want to be sure she’s okay, too.” She turned to Jordan. “I’ll meet you in my room?”

“Yeah, of course,” he said. “Take care of your sister.”

* * *

The two walked up to Macy’s room. Mel knocked gently on the open door. “I’ve got your tea, Mace,” she said. Macy was curled up in a ball staring out the window. She had her arms wrapped around a pillow and lay there motionless. “Are you wearing Harry’s pajamas?” she asked, concerned.

“They still smell like him,” Macy said, making no move to look at her sisters. “Don’t judge me.” 

“We would never judge you, at least not for that,” Maggie said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “We brought you some tea to help you sleep.” 

Macy turned to look at them, her harsh expression crumbling. “I don’t want to fall asleep without him,” she said softly. 

Mel sighed and laid down next to her sister. Maggie laid down on the other side, taking care not to touch Harry’s pillow. “Mace, I’ll tell you the exact same thing Maggie and I said to Harry when you were missing. Harry needs you, but he needs you at your best. You are useless to him if you are too exhausted to function. Now, drink the damn tea, so you can get some rest tonight. There’s not much in there, just enough to help you sleep for a few hours.”

Macy nodded sadly, drinking the tea. “What if we’re too late? What if he’s already gone?” 

“We can’t think that way, Macy,” Maggie said, reaching for her sister’s hand. “He has to be out there, I know it.”

Macy laid her head down against Harry’s pillow, breathing in his warm scent that lingered on the pillowcase. “People don’t come back to me, Maggie,” she said quietly as the tea took hold of her and she fell asleep. 

Mel and Maggie looked at each other over their sister’s sleeping body. “We have to find him,” Maggie said. “I don’t know if she can handle losing him. Hell, I don’t know if I can handle losing him.” 

“We’re not going to lose him,” Mel reassured her. “Choochi will come through with something, I’m sure of it.” She pulled the blanket up over Macy to tuck her in. “Now, let’s get some sleep.” 

* * *

Maggie walked into her room, shut the door and rested her head against it. 

“How is she?” Jordan asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. 

“Falling apart,” Maggie said. “I haven’t seen her that scared since she came back from the Darklighter.” She sat down next to him and rested her head against his shoulder. 

“I’m so sorry I scared you,” he said, wrapping his arms around her.

“Jordan, I can’t do this,” she said, closing her eyes. “I know I’ve been trying to keep things light with you, but I can’t do that anymore.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, concerned. 

“I mean that I’m falling in love with you,” she sighed, looking up at him. “And I was terrified you would die before I could tell you that.” 

He smiled and rested his hand on the side of her face, leaning in to kiss her softly. “I love you, too, Maggie. Pretty sure I started falling for you the day you stole my first aid kit. But by the time you tackled me to keep from blowing out my birthday candles, I was a goner.” He put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

She laughed and pulled him closer. “Want to see if ‘I’m in love with you and am super glad you’re not dead’ sex is as good as I think it will be?” 

He laughed and pushed her down to the mattress. “God, I love the way your mind works,” he said, brushing his fingers through her hair. 

They quickly stripped off their clothes and lost themselves in exploring each other’s bodies before falling asleep wrapped in the other’s arms. 

* * *

Mel woke up early the next morning to a text from Choochi with the owner of the limo. She read through the text three different times, not wanting to believe the information he had sent. She sat there, trying to figure out how she was going to deliver this news. 

Maggie and Jordan came downstairs, hand in hand. She kept looking back at him and smiling. They found Mel sitting in the kitchen, staring off into space. 

“Hey, anything yet?” Jordan asked. Mel nodded and handed him the phone. He and Maggie read it. They looked at each other, their eyes wide.

“Is that…” Jordan asked.

“Yeah,” Maggie confirmed.

He hung his head. “Fuck. Where is she?”

“She hasn’t come downstairs yet,” Mel said. “This is going to destroy her.” 

Macy stood in the doorway, still wearing Harry’s pajamas. Although she had slept, she would not have classified it as restful. The calming draught overpowered her and forced her to sleep, while her mind was constantly battling to stay awake. If anything, she felt more exhausted. “What is going to destroy me?” she asked, looking at her sisters and Jordan.

The others looked at each other, not wanting to be the one who had to tell her this information. 

“Will someone please just tell me?” Macy asked, getting scared. “What happened?”

Finally, Mel stepped forward. She had to just rip off the Band-Aid and tell her. “Look, just sit down first,” she said, leading her over to a chair. Jordan grabbed her a cup of coffee and brought it over. Mel sat next to Macy while Maggie stood next to her, her hand on her oldest sister’s arm. 

“Choochi got back to me about the owner of the limo Harry was in,” Mel said, hesitantly. “It was registered to the Shea Group.” She took a deep breath. “Macy, we think Julian is behind the Faction.”

Just when Macy thought she was starting to get her bearings again, hearing this news knocked her back down. There had to be some sort of misunderstanding. Julian was trying to save the world, to rid it of disease, to make it a better place. He couldn’t also be behind the kidnapping of magical creatures and reanimation of the dead. She thought back to how the magical being they found had so many different DNA profiles. At the time, she thought the science seemed elegant. She remembered how Julian told her his favorite scientist was Ada Lovelace because of the beauty in the way she saw the world. It all fit together. She just didn’t know how she could have missed it. There was no one else who saw the world like he did. 

The others watched carefully as Macy tried to process the information. They could see her mind turning and trying to comprehend everything. “Macy,” Mel asked. “Are you okay?”

Maggie jumped in, trying to make her feel better. “Maybe it isn’t him. I mean, his company is huge, right? Maybe it’s a different sector of the company and he has no idea what’s going on.” 

Macy looked up, shaking her head. “No, he knows,” she said, calmly. “He knows about everything going on with every single one of his company’s projects. He’s a massive control freak. And besides, the science of everything has his mark all over it.” 

Mel and Maggie looked at each other, scared by how calm Macy seemed right now. “We thought you’d be freaking out right now,” Maggie said. “Why aren’t you freaking out?”

Macy smiled slightly. “Because we’re already a step ahead. We don’t have to figure out how to break in anywhere. We’ve been invited in to their headquarters. Odds are good that Harry is somewhere in that building and we just have to figure out where. So come on, we’ve got a party to attend tonight.” 

Mel smiled at her. “Alright then, let’s make a plan. First things first, let’s figure out where he is.”

Maggie nodded. “Let me see if I can figure out where he might be. I just need to touch some of Harry’s stuff and I might be able to get a vision.” She started by reaching out and touching Macy’s shoulder. Those pajamas were the last thing Harry had worn before he left. She closed her eyes, focused, and saw only darkness. She sighed in irritation. “No, nothing.”

“It probably has too much of me on it right now,” Macy said. “Let me grab some other stuff.” 

She ran around the house, grabbing everything she could think of that meant anything to Harry. His favorite sweater. One of his ties. His favorite pen. His notebook. His teacup. She brought them all to Maggie.

Maggie touched them one by one, not able to get any sort of reading. “Nothing. None of this is working.”

“What about Julian?” Macy asked. “If he’s behind this, maybe something of his can trigger a vision.” 

Maggie sighed. “I mean, do you have anything of his?” 

Macy wracked her brain. Julian had never really given her anything. She didn’t spend enough time with him to collect any of his belongings. She thought back to their coffee together the other day when they were talking about her job offer. “Wait!” she yelled. She ran out of the room and came back in, holding a thin box. “Julian gave me this yesterday, like a welcome to the team kind of present. I had completely forgotten about it.” She pulled out a fancy pen and handed it to Maggie. 

Maggie grabbed it and held it tightly. There was still nothing but darkness. “Fuck, this isn’t working.” 

Jordan looked at everything laid out on the table. There had to be something they were missing. “What if you tried a mashup? Something of Julian’s and something of Harry’s.” He handed her the pen and Harry’s sweater. 

She grasped on tightly to both items. She was starting to get desperate. Her powers were the only ones that could lead them to Harry’s location. If she couldn’t do this, they wouldn’t even know where to begin. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 

Finally, an image started to appear. An armed security guard walked out of a door marked “test room.” He stood in a hallway next to a sign marked “S3.” The guard stepped to the side. A manicured hand reached out to enter a passcode and the door unlocked. 

She gasped and opened her eyes. “He’s there. He’s at the Shea Group building. It’s a super high-security area, no windows or anything like that.” 

Macy breathed a sigh of relief. She knew there was a high chance the Faction had taken Harry somewhere else, but she had been so hopeful he was right here in Seattle. They were at least going to be finding him in a building she already knew. She had only been to the building a couple of times, never staying very long, but it wasn’t completely unfamiliar territory. “Alright, let’s come up with a plan.” 

Macy started delegating tasks to everyone. Maggie had already fulfilled her biggest part of the plan, figuring out where Harry was. Now, she was in charge of gathering gala-appropriate clothing for the four of them. Jordan was in charge of logistics. He went to City Hall and got the blueprints to the Shea Group headquarters so they could study everything. Macy wrote out a list of every detail she could remember from the building when she had been in there last. Mel was in charge of making sure they had everything they needed from a magical standpoint. Macy texted Julian to confirm that she, her sisters, and Jordan would all be attending the gala that night. He sent back an excited thumbs up and said he could send a car for them. 

Once Jordan got back with the blueprints, he and Macy spread them out on the table and started analyzing everything.

“These aren’t complete,” he said, looking through them. “Maggie said the wall had a sign that said S3 on it. We’ve got levels marked S1, S2, and S4, but no S3.”

“Well, then that just confirms he’s there,” Macy nodded. “A secret level kept completely off the grid. That’s where everything nefarious is going to happen.” 

“How do we move around between levels? Elevators, stairs, do we need pass codes?” Jordan asked.

“Shit, the elevators are voice-activated,” Macy remembered. 

Jordan looked over at Mel, who was starting to put together a package of potions to take with them that night. “Anything to mimic voices in your magical bag of tricks?”

Mel stopped and started running through all the potions she knew. “No, but I remember something from the Book of Shadows. It was called the Nightingale.” She started writing down everything she remembered. “The only catch is that in order for the potion to work, there has to be a transfer between you and the person’s mouth.” 

“You mean, like a kiss?” Macy clarified. 

“Exactly,” Mel said. 

“Fine,” Macy said. “I’ll figure out a way to make it seem natural.”

“Are you sure?” Mel asked. “Are you going to be comfortable with that?”

“It’s for Harry,” she said, her brow furrowed. “I won’t be comfortable with anything until he’s back with me again.” 

Maggie came back in with dresses for the three sisters and a tux for Jordan. They split up to get ready for the night. 

* * *

Macy stood upstairs in her room, fixing her makeup. She looked at the dress Maggie had picked out for her. It was a dark green satin evening gown with onyx jewels along the neckline. It was a gorgeous dress. Immediately, she wondered what Harry would think of it.

She looked at herself in the mirror and closed her eyes, trying to picture him standing next to her. She pretended she was getting dressed for a night out with him. She pictured the look on his face as he took in her appearance. She had never really felt sexy or alluring before him. He always had a way of looking at her like she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. His mouth would open just slightly and his eyes would get wide. She shifted her weight backwards just a little bit, imagining leaning back against him and almost felt the weight of his arms around her. She imagined the soft scratch of stubble against her neck as he whispered in her ear. “ _You look gorgeous, love,”_ she could almost hear him saying.

“Macy?” Maggie said, knocking on the door. “I just wanted to see how you’re doing. See if you need help with anything.” Maggie was embarrassed by how she had acted the night before. She was normally so in tune with her sister’s emotions, but last night, she felt completely out of control. All she felt was fear while Jordan was gone. Then when he came back, she went into overdrive trying to protect him. 

Macy startled and turned around. “Sorry, what?” she said, embarrassed at being caught in her daydream.

“I just wanted to see if you need anything,” Maggie repeated. “And to apologize for how I acted when we got back last night.”

Macy’s brow furrowed. “Why are you apologizing? I was awful to all of you. I should be the one apologizing.”

“No, I should have known better,” Maggie said, sitting on the bed. “I was just so relieved that Jordan was okay. I let it blind me to how you were feeling about Harry.”

Macy came over and joined her sister on the edge of the bed. “It’s fine. I shouldn’t have taken out my frustration on Jordan. I know it wasn’t his fault.” She looked at her sister, curiously. “You really care for him, don’t you?”

Maggie looked down shyly and smiled. “I told him I love him last night.”

Macy smiled. “That’s great, Mags. He’s a good man. The two of you are good together.” 

Maggie sighed. “I shouldn’t be telling you all of this right now. Not with Harry missing.”

Macy reached out and grabbed her sister’s hand. “You deserve to be happy, Maggie. After the year all of us have had, after everything that happened with Parker, you deserve love just as much as anyone else. And besides, Harry is going to be okay. I have to believe that.” 

Maggie hugged her sister. “Come on, let’s go save our Whitelighter.” 

* * *

They headed downstairs to meet Mel and Jordan in the living room. Mel set out all the potions she had gathered for the night. A couple vials of the Nightingale. Cloaking serum. One called the Wallflower that would allow you to be completely camouflaged. A couple vials of influencer potion. She even grabbed the magic detector Harry and Jordan had brought back from Maine.

Jordan looked at the array of items. “Just one question,” he said. “They’re definitely going to be checking bags at this thing. How do we walk in with a giant bag of combustible liquids and not get caught?”

Macy smiled and pulled out her clutch. “One step ahead of you there.” 

“That bag isn’t even big enough to hold all of this, though,” Jordan said, confused.

“Jordan, are you a fan of Harry Potter?” Macy asked.

His brow furrowed in confusion. “Not really? And what does that have to do with anything?”

“Hermione had this extendable bag and she could keep everything in the world in it. I found a spell to make this into my own extendable bag. I can put anything I want in here and it’s completely undetectable. So, I’m walking right in with all of our potions.” 

He nodded, approvingly. “Alright, then. Go through the plan one more time?”

Macy nodded. “We start at the Command Center. Open portals back here, so each of us has a spare marble in case we need to make a quick exit. Julian’s sending a car to pick us up and take us to the event. While we’re there, we will be surrounded by a who’s who of CEOs, entrepreneurs, and tech geniuses. We must not be fooled by their titles or diamonds. Any one of them could be a member of the Faction.” 

Mel picked up the vial containing the Nightingale potion. “When Macy has a chance, she’ll take the potion, find a way to kiss Julian, and then go find Harry. The potion only lasts about 10 minutes, so you’ll have to be quick,” she said, looking at her sister.

“Let’s do this then,” Maggie said. “Time to go save Harry.”

* * *

They quickly walked to the Command Center and portaled home, each sister keeping their marble on them. After what had happened with Jordan getting stranded in Idaho, they were going to account for every variable. 

Right at 6 p.m., the car arrived for them. They arrived at the Shea Group headquarters and walked inside. Macy held tightly to her clutch. She was certain the spell had worked to keep everything undetectable, but she wouldn’t breathe again until they were through security. She came up to the metal detector and walked through. The security guard asked her to open her clutch. He peered inside, seeing only her ID, makeup, phone, and some cash. “Alright, go on through,” the guard said.

Macy snapped her clutch shut and stepped into the lobby. Jordan gave her a subtle thumbs up. The four stepped into the ballroom and found a table near the back of the room. It was close enough to the exit they could sneak out, but not so close they would be the first table spotted. 

Maggie grabbed a couple flutes of champagne for her and Macy. If Macy was going to have to kiss Julian for the potion to work, she needed to have a plausible reason for doing so. She was going for the “ditzy drunk” approach.

The four stood at the high-top table and looked around. “There’s Julian,” Macy said, looking up. She pulled out the potion vial and quickly downed it before waving him over to the table. 

“I’m so glad you all could make it,” Julian said. He looked at Maggie and Mel. “Macy has told me so much about the two of you.” 

“And this is my boyfriend, Jordan,” Maggie said as Jordan reached out to shake his hand. “Thank you so much for letting us come. I love a chance to get all dressed up for the night.”

“Oh, of course,” Julian said, looking at Macy. “Besides, I’m hoping you all can convince Macy to take me up on my job offer.” He looked up again. “Your sister is an absolute genius,” he said, smiling.

“Oh, we know,” Mel said, smiling sarcastically. “You have no idea how brilliant she truly is.” 

Macy looked over as Julian’s aunt Vivienne approached the table. She had hoped to avoid her for the evening, but she should have known better. “This is Julian’s aunt Vivienne Laurent,” she said, making the introductions to her sisters and Jordan. 

Jordan noticed Vivienne had been glaring daggers at Macy, but her eyes seemed to travel along his body once she saw him. “No introduction needed,” he said, reaching out to take her hand and kissing the back of it. “I am a massive fan of your work.” 

Jordan had perfectly distracted Vivienne, allowing Macy the opportunity to kiss Julian and step away. She turned to Julian and put her hand on his arm. “I just need to go to the ladies room really quick.”

“Of course,” he said, smiling. “It’s just that way.”

She stepped closer to him. “Thank you so much for inviting all of us tonight. It was really kind of you.” She leaned in and kissed him on the lips, holding there for just a couple seconds.

She stepped back and he had a confused look on his face. “Macy? Are you okay?”

She giggled and nodded. She couldn’t say anything as it would be his voice, so she just motioned towards the door and left. 

He continued to look confused and opened his mouth as if he wanted to ask a question. “So, Julian,” Maggie blurted out. “Macy told us you know a lot about crops. I’ve been wanting to learn more about them.” 

Julian looked back at Maggie suspiciously as Macy took her chance to get out of the room. She only had 10 minutes to find Harry. She walked down the hallway to the elevator bank, pressed a button, and stepped inside the waiting elevator.

“Julian Shea, S3,” Macy said, in Julian’s voice. The elevator moved downwards and opened to reveal a hallway filled with dozens of doors. She looked up to see a security camera and quickly used her powers to move it so she couldn’t be seen. Every door was marked “test room.” There was nothing to narrow down Harry’s location based on the information she had from Maggie’s vision. She began to look around frantically. She was so close to him. She could feel it. 

* * *

Upstairs, Jordan was continuing to occupy Vivienne’s attention, wanting to ensure she wouldn’t turn her attention back to looking for Macy. 

“So, you served in the military, you run your own business, and you’re in law school?” Vivienne said, taking a sip of her champagne. She reached out and touched his arm. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

“Anything artistic,” he laughed. “I can’t even draw a stick figure.” 

She turned to Maggie. “Well, aren’t you a lucky lady?”

Maggie tried to avoid sneering at her. “Oh, trust me. I know I am.” 

“Well, I happen to know a number of very prominent federal judges,” Vivienne said, turning her full attention back to Jordan. “If you’re ever interested in a clerkship, I’m happy to make an introduction.”

His eyebrows raise. “Oh wow, that is a very generous offer.” 

“Yes, well, I am a very generous person,” she said. “Now, I am afraid I have to go mingle with far less interesting and attractive people.” She reached out and shook Jordan’s hand. 

Maggie looked down, recognizing the bracelet and manicure from her vision. It had been Vivienne opening the door to the test room where Harry was being kept. She froze, her mouth slightly open. She started to feel her breaths become more rapid. Her face began to burn. 

As Vivienne walked away, Jordan shook off the interaction. He had no problem flirting with people for the sake of helping their missions, but he hated having to do it so openly in front of Maggie. “Wow,” he said, turning to his girlfriend who was still frozen in place. 

Mel looked over at her, concerned. “Mags, what is it?”

“It’s Vivienne,” Maggie said, looking up, trying to regain control of her body. “The hand in my vision that was opening the door to the room where Harry is. It was Vivienne. She knows where he is.” 

* * *

Macy stood downstairs, looking around. Her time was running out. She didn’t have time to go open every single door. She was going to need backup in order to get into the room. She sent a quick text to her sisters to let them know she was on her way back. Feeling slightly defeated, she called the elevator to return upstairs. 

The elevator door opened in the lobby. Macy stepped out, not paying attention and nearly ran straight into someone.

“Macy?” Julian asked. 

She looked up, trying to figure out her next move. She did the only thing she could think and pretended to faint.

“Macy, oh my god,” he said, catching her. “Come on.” He pulled her into the elevator and took her up to his office, wanting to give her a space to have some quiet. He took her into the room and helped her over to the couch before going to get her a glass of water. 

“I am so sorry,” she apologized. She laughed nervously, taking a sip of water. “I went to find the bathroom and got lost. I must have had one glass too many of that champagne. I haven’t had a ton to eat today and it just went straight to my head.”

“Yeah, but the elevator was coming up,” he pointed out. “How did you get downstairs?” He narrowed his eyes.

“Honestly, I don’t even know,” she said, trying to laugh it off. “It was kind of just a blur. But what all is down there?” 

He looked down. “I don’t know if I can tell you.” 

“Well, Julian,” she said, turning to look at him. “If you want me to work for your company, I need to know what kind of organization I’m working for.”

He sighed. “Yeah, that’s fair. Look, you remember I told you about the night of my parents’ car accident. Well, my sister Rosemary was in the car, too. She was ejected on impact. I could see her in the street and she was still breathing. All of a sudden, this man appeared in the street. It was like he materialized out of nowhere, like a ghost or angel or something. He went over to the two women from the other car and he healed them with nothing more than the wave of his hand. And then the three of them vanished together.” He looked up at Macy, trying to gauge her reaction. “I know it sounds insane. It completely defies science and logic, but I’ve spent my entire life trying to figure out how that man did what he did.” 

Macy gulped. She tried to keep her face neutral, not wanting to let Julian in on the fact that she knew exactly what he was talking about. Julian had almost definitely seen a Whitelighter healing a couple of witches. “So, those test rooms?”

“Are me trying to figure that out,” he nodded. “Now, I have a question for you.” 

“Sure,” she said nervously.

“You kissed me earlier?” he said, confused. 

“Um, yeah, I did,” she said, embarrassed. 

“Why did you do that when I’m almost positive I saw you kissing some other guy at Safe Space last week?” he asked. “What’s your game here?”

She was taken aback. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. That must have been someone different.”

“I’m pretty sure it was you,” he said. “You were down a hallway and he was leaning up against the wall. The two of you looked pretty cozy. I mean, we were never really dating, so it’s not a big deal. I’m just confused and I don’t want to be a part of any mind games.” 

She sighed. He must have seen her and Harry the day they found Celeste. She was comforting Harry in the hallway that day. She had no idea how she was going to talk herself out of this one.

Julian’s assistant knocked on the door to let him know it was time for his speech. Macy breathed a sigh of relief. “We’ll finish this later,” he said, seriously. 

* * *

Mel, Maggie, and Jordan stood at their table, nervously looking around. Macy should have gotten back by now. She had sent them a text letting them know she was on her way back upstairs. 

Mel looked over and saw a middle-aged white man corner Vivienne. She leaned just a touch closer to see if she could make out what he was saying.

“Ah, Ivan,” Vivienne said, looking around nervously. “How are you doing? How’s the wife?”

“Cut the crap, Vivienne,” he said. “Look, my group has been very generous in giving your organization access to numerous sites that are typically off-limits. Now, it’s time we start seeing some results.” 

She stepped back and patted his arm. “Your timing could not be more perfect. I have to make a speech in just a moment. But afterwards, I’ll personally walk you down to the lab and show you how much progress we have made. We’ve acquired a new specimen, something truly unique, and I think you’ll be very impressed.”

Mel looked at Maggie and Jordan. “Specimen?” she mouthed. 

“Harry,” Maggie whispered.

Julian walked out onto the stage as Macy got back to the table where her sisters and Jordan were standing.

“There you are,” Mel said, relieved. “Where have you been?”

“Julian found me coming out of the elevator,” Macy said, taking a quick sip of champagne. “I panicked and pretended to faint, so he took me to his office to have a quiet place. It’s a good thing he did. Look, when Julian was a kid, his parents and sister died in a car crash. The women in the other car were witches. Julian saw their Whitelighter come and heal the witches.”

“And they left his sister and parents for dead?” Maggie asked. 

“Well, there’s your supervillain origin story,” Jordan snarked.

“Yeah, and it runs in the family,” Mel said. “Vivienne is doing some sort of magical demonstration after this speech and I’m pretty sure Harry is involved.”

“We have to get back downstairs,” Macy said. “We’ve got that magic detector. We can use it to figure out where Harry is. I just ran out of time earlier. We’ve got another dose of the mimicking potion.”

Maggie looked up at the stage where Julian was still giving his speech. “Julian’s lips are kind of occupied at the moment.”

“Yeah, I can’t kiss him again anyway,” Macy said, grimacing. “He saw me kissing Harry last week, so I don’t think I can fake my way into another kiss from him.”

“Wait, Vivienne’s voice can get us downstairs.” Maggie turned to Jordan. “Hey babe, I don’t even want to suggest it, but…”

Jordan looked at her. “No. I can flirt with Vivienne, but I can’t just kiss her out of nowhere. Not even white guys can do that type of shit anymore.” 

Macy looked down at her champagne glass. “What if it’s not the act of kissing that triggers the potion? It’s just a transfer of DNA through saliva.”

“How does that sound even grosser?” Maggie asked, disgusted. 

Jordan realized what Macy meant. “No, I like where you’re going with this. Hand me that potion.” She handed him the vial and he quickly drank it. “Wish me luck,” he said, squeezing Maggie’s hand and walking away.

He walked over to Vivienne, who was standing at a table near the stage, waiting for her time to go up and speak. 

“Do you get stage fright?” he asked, leaning in flirtatiously. 

She turned her body to him and smiled seductively. “There are only two things in this world that scare me. One of them is taxes.” 

“And what’s the other?” he asked, smiling.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she purred, taking a sip of her champagne as Julian introduced her. “That’s my cue.”

“Oh, please, let me take this for you,” he said, grabbing the champagne flute from her. He turned away and took a sip from the glass, making sure to line his mouth against her lipstick mark on the rim. He walked back to the sisters.

“Did it work?” Mel asked, nervously.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Jordan said, in Vivienne’s voice. The sisters smiled triumphantly and headed for the door. Everyone in the room was focused on Vivienne’s speech, so they were able to sneak out undetected. 

They stepped into the elevator as Jordan said, “Vivienne Laurent, S3.” 

“God, that’s so creepy,” Maggie said. The doors opened and they stepped out into the hallway. “This is it. This is exactly the place from my vision.” 

Macy nodded and pulled the magic detector out of her bag. “Let’s do this.” She turned it on and let it guide them. 

“Up there,” Maggie said as the detector started beeping more rapidly. “I think that’s the door from my vision.” 

“Do you remember the code?” Macy asked nervously.

Maggie closed her eyes and pictured the moment again. “157438#,” she said, keying in the code. 

The door opened and the four of them stepped inside. The room looked like a more high-tech version of the warehouse where they had previously found the kyon. This was a more sterile setting. They looked around and saw several pneumatic tubes lining the walls. 

Jordan looked around, shocked. He hadn’t seen anything like this previously. “This is some Dr. Frankenstein levels of shit,” he said, adjusting out of Vivienne’s voice. 

“Yeah, it is,” Macy agreed. She walked over to the first tube. It was slightly fogged over. She took her wrist and pushed away the condensation. “This one’s a kadal demon.”

Mel walked to the next tube and wiped away the fog. “I’ve got a banshee.”

Maggie walked to the third tube and cleared it. She almost burst into tears. Harry was inside, unconscious and suspended in mid-air. He looked almost peaceful. “Macy, I’ve got him,” she yelled. 

Macy bolted over and put her hands against the glass. “Harry, oh god, Harry,” she said. He looked like he was asleep. He had the slightest hint of a smile on his lips, as if he were having a good dream. She turned to the others. “Okay, we have to get him out of here.” 

She looked up, seeing the wires coming out of the tubes. All of them were connected to each other. She couldn’t just break the glass and pull Harry out. She started to pace nervously, trying to come up with a plan. 

Jordan looked over to the door, hearing it starting to jiggle in the frame. “Guys, I think we’re about to have company,” he said. “Let me try something.” He went over to the fuse box and quickly fried the electrical panel. “That’ll keep them from getting into the room.”

“Macy, can’t you just use your powers?” Maggie asked. 

“No, the pods are pressurized,” Macy said, frantically. “If I’m off by even the slightest amount, the whole room could explode.” 

Jordan ran over to one of the computers. “Could there be something in here?” he asked, trying to open a program. 

Macy looked back at Harry in the tube. “Oh god, babe. I’ve got to get him out of here.” 

Jordan looked back to the door, hearing a mechanical whirring. “Guys, they’re drilling the lock to the room. We have to move.” 

Macy ran to the computer and started clicking programs. “There’s a million safety protocols here,” she said. 

“Mace, you have to do something,” Mel said. 

Macy hit a button and the tubes whirred to life. An electrical current started to come out of the tube containing the kadal demon. A triangular prism in the center of the room started to fill with light as the current flowed into it. Once the power was sucked out of the tube, the kadal demon inside fell to the bottom of the tube.

“Macy, it’s taking their magic,” Mel realized. She looked at the banshee tube, which was already a quarter of the way done. “Harry’s tube is next.”

“Can’t you just break the glass?” Maggie yelled, panicking. She looked at Harry. She couldn’t watch him die in there. They couldn’t get this close, only to lose him like this. 

“It’s pressurized,” Macy said, throwing her hands around frantically. “It could explode.” She looked up at the tubes, trying to focus on the technology present rather than the fact the man she loved was about to be killed in front of her. “Okay, pressure sensors are wireless. If I can just reduce the pounds per square inch by half, it could work. I might not have enough time, though. If this goes wrong, then I’ve just killed Harry.” 

The magic transfer from the banshee’s tube was completed and the banshee fell to the bottom of its tube, dead.

Harry’s tube began to light up as his magic began to transfer.

“Macy, there’s no more time,” Mel yelled. “Just trust yourself. You can do this.” 

Macy nodded. She thought back to one of her very first training simulations with Harry. He told her to stay out of her head so much, to just trust herself. “Alright, let’s see if this works,” she said, sticking her hands out and using her powers to carefully remove the cords from the tube.

They were going to need to get out of the room immediately. It was only a matter of time before Vivienne successfully drilled through the door. “Mel, open the portal,” Macy yelled. “You go through first. I’m going to toss the tube through and then you stop it.”

“Got it,” Mel yelled, throwing the marble to reopen the portal to the Command Center. She jumped through and Macy flicked the tube through behind her sister. Macy and the others followed through right afterwards.

“Stand back,” Macy said, reaching out and removing the door from the tube. Harry immediately fell out onto the floor, unconscious. “Harry, oh god,” she yelled, going over to hold him in her arms. “Oh, babe,” she held him close and focused on the feeling of his breath. “He’s alive,” she said, crying. 

“Come on,” Jordan said, going over to pick up Harry. “Let’s get all of you home.” Maggie nodded and opened a portal back to the manor. Macy grabbed onto Harry’s hand as Jordan carried him through.

* * *

They stepped into the living room. “Where am I taking Harry?” Jordan asked. “His room’s up in the attic, right?”

“No,” Macy said. “He’s going to my room.” 

Jordan nodded and carried him upstairs, setting him down on Macy’s bed. Macy sat down next to him, cradling his head in her lap and running her fingers through his hair. She couldn’t stop touching him. She had been so afraid she would never have this opportunity again. She almost couldn’t believe he was real. 

Mel and Maggie stood in the doorway, watching their sister. “You need any more help tonight?” Maggie asked. 

“No,” Macy said, looking up and smiling gratefully. “I’ve got him from here. Thanks, guys.” 

The others nodded and left the room. They stood in the hallway. Mel took a deep breath. “We came so close to losing Harry tonight,” she said. “That was terrifying.”

Maggie hugged her sister. “I know, but he’s back. He’s safe,” she said. 

Mel turned to Jordan. “You were awesome tonight. Seriously, Harry will be proud.” 

He smiled. “It was nothing. Harry would have done the exact same thing.” 

“I’m heading to bed now,” Mel said. “Macy’s got Harry under control and I’m exhausted.” 

He put his arm around Maggie and pulled her closer to him. “I should probably head home. I’ve got a training session at 6 a.m. tomorrow. Ugh,” he grimaced.

Maggie’s face fell. “Oh, I just kind of thought you could stay here tonight. If you wanted to, that is.”

He smiled. “Sure, your place is closer to the gym and I’ve got a change of clothes in my locker there. I’d love to stay here with you.” 

She beamed at him and pulled him into her room. She quickly changed into her pajamas and got in bed. Jordan stripped down to his boxers and climbed in after her. 

“It was nice hearing you talk about the law and your career aspirations,” Maggie said, resting her head on his chest. “I haven’t even been allowed to think about all that since we’ve started this.” 

“You’ll be able to get back to it,” he said, stroking her hair. 

“Every time I think that’s true, there’s some other crisis,” she said, frustrated. 

“Well, crisis by definition is a temporary state. And when this one abates, you’ll get your life back. And besides, I’m not so certain the law is really my passion anymore.” 

She looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, ever since I met you and found out all about this magical world, I feel like this may be where I belong. I want to do what Harry does. I want to teach and protect witches.”

“You want to be a Whitelighter?” Maggie asked, surprised. “I don’t even know if that’s possible.”

“I don’t, either,” he admitted. “I know I don’t want to go through what Harry did with being split and having his memory wiped, but I want to figure out some way to keep doing this on a more permanent basis.”

“Wow,” she said. “Well, you’d be perfect at it. You already are.”

He kissed her and pulled her more tightly to his chest. “I’ve had a group of pretty great teachers,” he said, smiling.

* * *

Macy had reluctantly gotten out of bed long enough to change out of her evening gown. She settled back in, sitting up against the headboard. Harry’s head was resting on her thigh. She sat there and watched him sleep. He looked so peaceful. There was no indication he had nearly died that night. She gently threaded her fingers through his hair.

She thought back to how scared she had been when he was missing. It wasn’t just the fear that she would never see him again. It was the overwhelming terror that she would never be able to tell him how she really felt about him. 

She started to practice what she wanted to say to him. She couldn’t wait any longer. As soon as he was awake, she would finally tell him everything she wanted to say to him for months. 

“Harry,” she whispered. “I have always thought I would be lonely forever. No, that’s not right.” She shook her head and tried to start again. “Harry, I’m in love with you, no matter how hard I’ve tried not to be. No, that’s not it, either.” She sighed. This had to be perfect. Maybe she should just wing it. Trust that whatever she was feeling in that moment would be the perfect thing to say right then.

Harry took in a sharp breath and opened his eyes. He looked at Macy and went to sit up.

“Harry,” she said, helping him up and hugging him tightly. “I was so worried. How do you feel?

“Yes, well,” he said, awkwardly. “I feel okay, I think.” 

“Good,” she said, cradling his face in her hands.

He pulled back and went to stand up.

“Wait, before you do anything, I need to tell you something,” she said. “Just stay right here.”

He sat back down and looked at her, skeptically. “Okay, um…”

“Okay, here goes nothing,” she said, taking a deep breath. She stood up and started to pace, wringing her hands nervously. “Harry, I am in love with you. 100 percent head over heels, can’t think of anything else in love with you. And I tried to fight it for so long because I knew it was going to be complicated. And while I love working through complications in the lab, I run scared from them in my personal life.”

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but Macy cut him off. “No, please let me keep going. I need to just get this out.” He nodded. “It’s complicated because you’re my Whitelighter. And you’re my best friend. And you’re a part of the family. But Harry, when I take away all the complicating factors, I’m left with the fact that it is the easiest thing in the world to love you. Just as easily as I breathe, I love you. And our timing has been all off. And my own stupid fears have gotten in the way at every turn. But when I think about the life I want for myself, you’re there in every corner of it." 

She sat back down on the bed, curling her legs up underneath her. “I want to fall asleep in your arms every night. I want to have dinner together and sit curled up on the couch reading with you. I don’t want to keep denying how strongly I feel for you. You told me you wanted to have a real relationship with me and that’s all I want. I want you to be my boyfriend. And I know how juvenile that sounds because ‘boyfriend’ isn’t a strong enough word for what you are to me. You are my everything, Harry Greenwood. And I just needed you to know that. I need you to know that I am completely, effortlessly in love with you.” 

She sat back on her ankles and looked at him expectantly. “Okay, now you can say something.”

He looked at her nervously. “That was beautiful and so heartfelt. This Harry seems like a lucky man to have you in his life. But who are you?”

She tilted her head to the side. “I’m sorry, what? Harry? What are you talking about?”

“You see, I think you might have me confused with someone else,” he explained. “My name is James Westwell.”

She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. “You have got to be kidding me,” she grumbled. She ran out into the hallway, yelling “Fucking amnesia! Are you serious right now?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for today! I'll be back on Wednesday with the next chapter. Fair warning: It's the longest of the entire story, so set aside some time for it. It's also one of my favorite chapters of the story. I'm really excited to share with everyone. It'll probably go up late Wednesday night. 
> 
> If you feel so inclined, comments are welcomed and appreciated.


	19. Chapter Nineteen: Don't Look Back in Anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Macy spends time with James Westwell while she tries to figure out how to bring back Harry's memories. Jordan helps Maggie deal with a health crisis. Mel, Ray, and Maggie seek out more information about the Faction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Inauguration Day, everyone! I forgot I had taken today off work, so that's the only reason this is going up in the afternoon instead of late tonight. 
> 
> We're so close to the end here. This is the longest chapter of the entire story, so set aside some time for it. I genuinely hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Any comments or kudos are very much appreciated. 
> 
> As I say with every chapter, a massive thank you to my phenomenal beta katasstropheee. 
> 
> Some dialogue borrowed from 2x18: Don't Look Back in Anger.

“Fucking amnesia! Are you serious right now?” Macy yelled, slamming the door to her bedroom shut and falling on the ground against the wall. She pulled her legs into her chest and hugged them close. Putting her face into her arms, she started to cry in frustration. 

Mel and Maggie came running out of their rooms. Jordan followed closely behind, pulling his shirt back on. 

“Macy? What is it?” Maggie asked. “What’s wrong?”

Macy lifted her tear-stained face to her sisters. “He thinks he’s James Westwell,” she said, irritated.

“Wait, isn’t that…” Jordan started.

“His original name? Yep. He has no memory of his life as Harry Greenwood,” Macy said, her head falling back against the wall. “What the fuck are we supposed to do now?” She looked at her sisters, helplessness etched into her eyes.

“Well, we can’t do anything tonight,” Mel said, leaning down to sit next to Macy. “We’re all exhausted. We need to get some sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll figure out what to do. There has to be a way to get Harry’s memories back.” She reached out to squeeze Macy’s hand. “Don’t worry, sis. We’ve got this.” 

Macy sighed. “Thank you.” She put her face in her hands. “Ugh, he cannot stay in my room tonight. Not if he has no idea who I am.” 

“I’m on it,” Jordan said, going over and opening the door to Macy’s room. James stood awkwardly in the center of the room, looking at the doorway. 

“Is she okay?” he asked hesitantly. “She seemed quite upset.” 

“Yeah, it’s been one of those days,” Jordan said. “Look man, I gotta take you up to the attic to settle in for the night.”

“Erm, not to be rude, but I don’t know who the hell any of you are, so you’ll forgive me if I don’t want to just blindly follow you to an attic,” he said, confused.

“Harry. Er, James. Whatever the hell you think your name is. You’ve clearly lost your memory. We think we know how to get it back, but we all need to get some sleep. So, I’m going to take you upstairs. You’re going to sleep up there in your room, even though you don’t realize it’s your room right now. And tomorrow, we’re going to get everything figured out. Now, come on,” Jordan said, gesturing for James to follow him to the hallway. 

“Fine,” he sighed. “I could use a good night’s rest.” He figured he would just follow this man upstairs. Then once they left him for the night, he would slip out unattended. He certainly wasn’t going to stay there until morning. 

He walked into the hallway, observing the three sisters who seemed quite distraught with his presence. He followed Jordan to the attic where a bed was set up for him on a couch. It hardly looked comfortable. He considered pretending to be this Harry fellow, just so he could go back to the eldest sister’s bedroom and sleep in the far more comfortable bed. 

The woman he presumed to be the middle sister followed them to the attic. She went over to each of the windows, held up her hands, and muttered something under her breath. He saw a flash of light shoot out across the panes and then disappear. 

“Alright, Harry,” she said, walking over to them. “Get some rest. We’ll be back for you in the morning.” 

He nodded, not bothering to correct her on his name. He just had to stay put for an hour or so and then he would make his exit. 

Mel and Jordan walked back downstairs, stopping to do a protection spell on the door, ensuring James wouldn’t be able to get out of the room tonight. 

“You got all the windows?” Jordan asked.

“Yeah, even though I don’t see James trying to climb out of a three-story window, but you were right we should take every precaution. He was absolutely going to flee the second he was left unattended,” she said, rolling her eyes. 

“Do you think one of us should sleep out here, just in case he does get out?” he asked. 

“No. Maybe just leave the door open and listen for him? Maggie’s room is closest. Do you think you guys could?” she asked. 

He nodded. “Absolutely.” 

They walked back over to the other sisters. Maggie was standing there, trying to comfort Macy, attempting to reassure her this was just another momentary stumbling block. 

“Is he all settled?” Macy asked, helplessly. 

Jordan nodded. “Mel put up wards so he can’t get out of the room tonight. In the morning, we’ll figure out how to get Harry back. He’s still there, Mace. Just have faith.” 

She looked down, her mouth set in a straight line. “Yeah, if you guys say so. I’m just going to go to bed. Thanks for all your help tonight.” She turned and went into her room, shutting the door behind her.

The other three looked at each other. “I’ve never seen her look so defeated,” Maggie said. “We have to figure out how to fix this.” 

“We will,” Mel said, reaching out and rubbing her sister’s back. “Tomorrow.” 

Inside her room, Macy changed back into Harry’s pajamas, hoping their last night together wouldn’t be her last good memory of him. She laid down on her side of the bed, reaching over to his pillow, imagining that he was there with her. “I love you, Harry,” she whispered as she let her tears run free down her face.

* * *

Up in the attic, James sat and looked around. It seemed quite a peculiar place. He noticed some scientific equipment. A couple strange electronic boxes sat propped up on the table. He poked one and it lit up with his touch. He had never seen anything quite like it. He backed away from it slowly, for fear of breaking it. 

He walked over to the other side of the room and looked through the bookshelf. Histories and what looked like encyclopedias lined the shelves. Several books had strange symbols and runes carved into their sides. He found another cabinet filled with candles, herbs, and empty vessels. This was by far the strangest room he had ever encountered. And these women thought he lived there? He tried to imagine what type of person would live up here. 

He began to rifle through the drawers of the desk, hoping he might find some spare money to take with him when he made his exit. He stopped, looking at the pictures set on top. That was definitely him, or at least a man who looked identical to him, standing with his arms around the three sisters. Smiles bloomed on all of their faces. 

There was a smaller photo of just him and the oldest sister. She was laughing with her head on his shoulder. He had a soft smile with his head resting against hers, his eyes looking down at her. He understood the sisters’ confusion. He would have absolutely believed it to be himself in these photos. However, that could not be the case because he would certainly remember. 

He opened one of the drawers, finding three envelopes inside. The handwriting looked eerily similar to his. He looked at the names on the envelopes. He couldn’t quite recall the names of the sisters, but he assumed these were probably meant for them. He opened them up carefully, figuring he would just close them back up once he was done reading. Maybe they could offer some more insight into what exactly his relationship was with these women. They seemed to care for him a great deal, one in a quite different way. 

He began to read through the letters. His eyebrows rose as he realized Harry thought he was going to die before writing these. He had no idea what a Whitelighter was or what he would have meant by powers. It was clear, though, that he cared a great deal for this Maggie and Mel. Macy, however, was a different story. It appeared her confession of love was returned wholeheartedly by this Harry fellow. That explained why she had been so upset with him not knowing her. He sat there in the desk chair, looking around. There had to be a reasonable explanation for everything. 

He was quite tired. Maybe he could wait until morning. Find out more about these women. He could always leave if things got too weird. Yes, that seemed like the smarter plan. He went over to the couch and laid down, sleep quickly overtaking his exhausted body. 

* * *

The next morning, Macy awoke to the sound of Jordan leaving the house. She had barely slept. She kept reliving the moment where she had poured her heart out to Harry, only for him to have no idea who she was. She sat up and sighed. Maybe his memory would have come back by now. Maybe he just needed time for whatever magic he was under to wear off. 

She went downstairs and quickly fixed his favorite full English breakfast. She walked back upstairs, removing the protection spell blocking the attic door and walked upstairs. 

“Harry?” she called out, hesitantly. “I brought you breakfast.”

James woke up to the sound of Macy entering the room. Groggily, he sat up and looked around. “Name’s still not Harry,” he said, grumpily. 

Her shoulders sank as she put his breakfast tray down in front of him. “Oh,” she said, quietly. “I was hoping maybe your memory came back overnight. I guess that would have been too easy.” 

“Unfortunately not,” he said, wanting to take away some of her disappointment. She really was quite beautiful. He could understand why Harry seemed so taken with her. “Thank you for breakfast, though.” 

“Of course, Har..er, James,” she said, shaking her head. “Can I ask you some questions? Figure out what you do already know?”

He shrugged as he shoveled food into his mouth. He was absolutely starving and her cooking was delicious. “I suppose so,” he said, his mouth full.

She grimaced. Harry had gained much better manners in his new life. “Okay, first of all, what year is it?”

He looked at her strangely. “1957. Why? What year do you think it is?”

“2020,” she said, trying to break the news gently to him.

“But that’s preposterous. I would be 100 years old by now,” he scoffed.

“Yes, well, physically you died in 1957,” she began.

“Died? And yet I’m here,” he said, cutting her off. “You’re not making any sense at all. Are you mental?”

“No, Harry…” she said, hearing a noise behind her. She looked back to see Mel and Maggie walking upstairs to join them. 

“For the last time, my name is James. James bloody Westwell,” he said, agitated. “My friends call me Jimmy. My mum called me Sprog. Once had a girlfriend call me an arse. But never, not in a million years, have I gone by Harry!” 

“Memory’s still not back?” Mel asked Macy. 

“He doesn’t seem to remember any of it,” she said, sighing.

“Any of what?” he asked, exasperated. “What should I be remembering?”

“Witches, demons, Whitelighters,” Mel said.

“Whitelighter? I read that word in one of those letters over there,” he said, motioning to Harry’s desk. “It’s a nonsense word, though.” 

“What letters?” Macy asked, confused.

“Omigod,” Mel said, walking over to the desk. “Letters in the top drawer of Harry’s desk.” She turned back to Macy. “The night before he and I went to find the Darklighter. He wrote letters to each of us in case he died. He said there were things he wanted to be sure he could tell us. I forgot about them until just now.” She picked up the letters and handed them to her sisters before angrily turning back to James. “But why you felt it was your business to read them is something I don’t understand.”

“Okay, well, you did lock me in here,” he said, smarmily. “I got curious. Trying to find ways to jog my memory, you could say.” 

“Yeah, or you’re just a nosy prick,” Mel said, crossing her arms. 

Macy stood frozen, looking down at the envelope in her hands. She was desperate to know what was inside. What was so important for Harry to say to her that he intended it as his possible dying remarks? She couldn’t focus on this right now. She shoved the envelope into the back pocket of her jeans and looked up. 

Maggie stepped forward. “So, you’re telling me you really don’t remember any events of the last 60 plus years? Really? How about anything from the Shea Group? Any leads on what they were doing there with you?”

“No,” he said, rolling his eyes. “It was all a blur. Now, can I please be on my way now?”

“And where are you going to go, Sprog,” Macy said, irate and frustrated. “It’s 2020 and you’re in Seattle, Washington. You have no idea the layout of the town. You have no knowledge of modern technology. You have no money. You’re a danger to yourself out there.” 

“Oh, and I’m just supposed to let a group of girls hold me hostage?” he scoffed. “I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely not Harry,” Mel said, under her breath. She looked up at James and sneered. “Harry isn’t such a chauvinistic asshole.” 

Macy turned around and rubbed her temples in frustration before turning back around to face James. She couldn’t bring herself to call him Jimmy. “Look, Harry, Sprog, whoever you are in this moment, actual lives are at stake here. Can you remember anything at all? Any tiny moment from your time at the Shea Group?”

He sat back, his eyes tilted up to the side as if he were trying to scan through his thoughts. “There was one thing. One phrase that is stuck in my mind. The Forty Stone Parasite.”

“Forty Stone Parasite,” Macy said. “Great, what the hell does that mean?”

He shrugged. “Dunno.”

“You have to give us more than that,” Maggie said, frustrated.

“I really don’t, actually,” he said. “Because I don’t know who the hell you are and I’m leaving. I will be just fine out in your big, scary world,” he said, dismissively, as he stood up.

Macy put out her hands and threw him back into his seat. “Alligatum est,” the sisters said in unison, a forcefield coming up to block him from leaving the attic.

He stood up and walked forward, meeting the invisible wall, only to bounce back from it. He reached out and poked it, meeting resistance in the air. “What the hell are you people?” he asked, seeming scared for the first time. 

“We told you, Harry. We’re witches. You’re our Whitelighter,” Macy said, sighing. “Now, just stay put and we’re going to get you back.” 

* * *

They walked downstairs together, all lost in their own thoughts. The letters from Harry weighed heavily on each of them. 

“I really want to read them,” Maggie sighed. “Don’t you want to know what he wrote to us? Maybe there’s a secret in there to figuring out how to help him?” 

“No, Maggie,” Mel said, shaking her head. “Those were only supposed to be read if Harry died. And he’s still alive. Reading these would be accepting defeat.” 

“I don’t know about you, but I could really use some Harry advice right now,” Maggie argued, her eyes tearing up. “He always knows what to do. You guys can make your own decisions, but I want to read my letter. I need to hear from him right now.” She ripped open the envelope and pulled out the letter, quickly reading through it. As she read more, she started to cry harder. 

“What? What is it?” Macy asked. “Is it bad?” 

“Of course not,” Maggie said, wiping her eyes. “It’s the freaking sweetest thing I’ve ever read. And it’s exactly what I needed to hear today.” 

Mel looked at her, her brow furrowed. “Ugh, fine. I want to know what mine says, too.” She opened it and read through, her eyes getting teary. “Damn it, we have to get Harry back. So I can smack him for making me cry.” 

They both looked at their oldest sister. “No,” Macy said, emphatically. “I can’t do it. I can’t read what Harry meant to say to me as a goodbye. You guys get that my letter is probably very different from yours, right? It probably has things in it that I want to hear Harry tell me himself.” 

Maggie sighed. “You’re right. It’s your decision what to do with it.” 

Macy stood there awkwardly, not wanting to think about the paper sitting in her back pocket. No matter what she said, she desperately wanted to read it. She just didn’t know if she was strong enough to read it right now. 

“Okay, well, we have to figure out what this Forty Stone Parasite means,” Maggie said, trying to change the subject for Macy’s sake. “If it means anything at all.”

Macy nodded. “I remember reading about a Lost Memory Balm in the Book of Elders. I’m going to try to make that. See if it helps.” She sighed. “I can’t stand another moment with Sprog. I want my Harry back. It’s killing me that he’s so close, but just not quite there.” 

“Macy, do you want one of us to stay here with him?” Mel asked, her hand resting on Macy’s upper arm. 

“No, it should be me,” Macy said, determined. “If we can get his memories to come back, I want to be here the moment it happens.”

The younger sisters nodded, understanding how badly their sister wanted Harry’s memories to return. “We’ll focus on trying to find out what the Faction has been up to then. Just text us if you need anything at all,” Maggie said. 

“Yeah,” Macy agreed. “I’m going to get started on this balm. Keep me updated on how you’re doing?” The younger sisters nodded their agreement as Macy walked away to gather ingredients.

Once Macy was out of the room, Mel walked closer to Maggie. “I think I know someone who could help us. Ray has been sending me information about the Faction. He’s been monitoring their activities.” 

Maggie looked at her, shocked. “I have to, um, I have to go get ready,” she said. She didn’t know how to process what Mel was telling her and she needed to get away quickly. 

Mel nodded. As Maggie walked away, she sighed. This was exactly why she didn’t want to tell her. 

* * *

The sisters walked to Safe Space in silence. Maggie was wholly focused on the thought Mel had been talking to Ray behind their back. Why hadn’t Ray been talking to her, too? Was it because she wasn’t his real daughter? Was he trying to cut her out of his life? Mel kept looking over at Maggie, trying to gauge her reactions. 

“Look, I understand why you’re upset,” Mel said, needing to finally break the silence. “You’re the one who told me to get over my issues with Ray, though, so that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

Maggie nodded. Mel was right. She had told her to repair her relationship with their father. Or Mel’s father. He wasn’t Maggie’s father, not really. The world began to spin as her chest closed. Her face and arms felt like they were on fire. Something needed to cool her down. She reached over to a window and let the coolness of the glass spread into her skin. “My skin is burning,” Maggie gasped out. “My arms are burning. Something’s wrong.”

Maggie lost her balance and started to slump against the window. “Mags, what’s wrong?” Mel asked, catching her sister as she fell.

“I think I’m dying,” Maggie said, between breaths. 

“Come on, let’s get downstairs,” Mel said, guiding her over to the switch room door. She carried her through into the Command Center. She helped Maggie into a chair and rubbed her back until her breathing slowed. 

Slowly, Maggie regained control of her breathing. “My whole body felt like it was on fire,” she said, dismayed. 

“It could be a magical poison or some type of neurotoxin,” Mel said, trying to make her feel better. Her phone chimed and she looked down. “It’s Ray. He’s asking about our ETA. What should I tell him?” 

“It’s fine,” Maggie said. “I’m already feeling better. You go get Ray. I’m going to make some of that purification tea. See if that helps.” 

“Okay, if you’re sure,” Mel nodded. “When I get back with him, we’ll start looking into what’s wrong and how to fix it.”

Maggie nodded. “Yeah, see you soon.” 

Mel walked over to the control panel and opened a portal to Cancun. At Maggie’s questioning look, she responded, “It’s Ray. Of course he’s at the beach.” 

* * *

After Mel left, Maggie walked upstairs to the Wicca store to get the rest of the ingredients she needed for the tea. She got a text from Mel saying she would be back in 30 minutes with Ray. The thought of seeing her father again made the dizziness return. The world was spinning and she was struggling to keep her breathing under control. 

She felt someone put their arms around her from behind. “Hey, babe,” Jordan said in her ear. She turned around to look at him and lost her footing. “Whoa, whoa, hey. Come on,” he said, pulling her over to the side. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing,” she said. “We think it’s a poison or a magical neurotoxin of some sort. I keep getting dizzy. Then I lose control of my breathing and my body feels like it’s on fire. I just need some of that purification tea. I’ll be fine until Mel and my dad get back.”

“Your dad’s here?” Jordan asked, his eyebrows raised. He knew Maggie didn’t have the best relationship with her dad. 

“He will be,” Maggie said, her eyes closed. “Mel went to get him.” 

Jordan nodded. “Come on. Let’s go back down to the Command Center.” 

She nodded, relieved he had found her. She always felt better when he was nearby. They walked back downstairs, Jordan helping to support her weight since she was still feeling faint.

He helped her into a chair and kneeled down in front of her, pushing her hair behind her ear. “And you’re sure this is some sort of poison or magical neurotoxin? Where would you have come into contact with it?”

Maggie scoffed. “I mean, it has to be. What else would it be?”

“It looks to me like a panic attack,” Jordan said, seriously. “What happened right before you felt this just now?”

“Um, Mel sent me a text that she was on her way back with Ray,” she said. 

“And when else have you felt this?”

“Earlier this morning.”

“And what was happening before that?”

“Mel and I were talking about Ray,” Maggie said. “But I don’t have panic attacks. I’m stronger than that.” 

He pulled her into a hug. “Maggie, I’ve seen some of the strongest soldiers in the world have panic attacks. It doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means your nervous system is temporarily overwhelmed and your body is producing too much cortisol. Besides, I think I’ve seen you have the beginnings of a panic attack before.”

Maggie scoffed. “What? What are you talking about?”

“When we came back from Idaho. You were flushed and lashing out. It felt like you were shaking a little bit,” he said, softly stroking her hair as she rested her chin on her shoulder.

She thought back to how she felt in the living room when Macy was yelling at Jordan. She felt like she had no control of her thoughts, her body, her emotions. At the time, she just chalked it up to stress and exhaustion. “Okay, maybe a little bit. I guess I can see that.” 

“And then again at the gala last night,” he said. “When you looked at Vivienne’s bracelet, your face went blank and you started to breathe heavily. You came out of it pretty quickly, but babe, it’s completely understandable.” 

Her eyes teared up. “Great, so I’m an empath who can’t control my own feelings,” she said, frustrated. “I’m even more useless now.”

“Maggie, stop,” he said, pulling back to look her in the eye. “You are one of the strongest women I know. Possibly  _ the _ strongest. You are under an immense amount of stress right now. Anyone’s body would react the same way. You need to give yourself a break. It’s okay if this is anxiety. Just let me help you. Let me carry some of that stress for you. I love you.” 

She sighed. “Fine, maybe I have felt this way before. It just makes me feel like such a baby. Macy and Mel don’t have to deal with this. They already treat me like a child. This just gives them even more reason to.” 

He placed his lips against her forehead. “You’re not a child. Your anxiety does not make you weak. It makes you human. Now, come on. You can drink that purification tea, if you really want to. It seems super nasty. Or I could brew you a cup of chamomile.”

She smiled. “Chamomile, please. This other shit tastes foul.” He stood up, kissing the crown of her head one more time. 

* * *

Back at home, Macy gathered the ingredients for the lost memory balm and walked upstairs. She had taken Harry’s letter out of her pocket and left it in her bedroom. She had to stay focused right now. If this worked, then Harry would be back soon enough and she would ask him to read it to her himself. He was still in there. She knew it. 

She walked into the attic to find James throwing himself against the forcefield. She rolled her eyes. “You’re just going to hurt yourself if you keep doing that,” she said, setting down the ingredients and crossing her arms. “Once you get your memories back, you can say the incantation and lower the forcefield yourself.”

“Of course,” he scoffed. “Because I’m a male witch? Or is it a warlock?” 

“No, you’re a Whitelighter,” she corrected him. “You sacrificed your life in order to take on this role to advise and protect witches.” 

“Yeah, sounds delightful,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Fairy dust and potions and all that.” 

“It is,” she said, tired of James disrespecting everything Harry stood for. “Watching you save others, fighting the forces of evil, together.” 

“The forces of evil,” he laughed. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound so much like me.” 

“But it is,” she said. “You’re a good man, Harry. You always have been, even when you were James. You made some bad choices, that’s for sure. But you’ve always been good at your core.”

“So, tell me, how did I come to be a Whitelighter then? Because what you’re saying doesn’t make any sense at all. There’s no way I would die in order to help some witches I don’t even know.” 

She smiled sadly. “You didn’t become a Whitelighter in order to protect witches. You did it to save your son.” 

“Carter?” he asked, shocked. “How do you know about Carter?”

“You told me about him,” she said. “You made a deal with the Elders. Carter was sick and the Elders agreed to save him if you would become a Whitelighter. They wiped your memory, so you didn’t know anything about him until probably last year. You got sent to a demon jail in Tartarus, which is a super long story. But while you were there, they gave you some of your memories back.”

“Demon jail?” he said. “I’m supposed to believe that. And you? Your sisters? What am I to you all?”

She sighed. “To all of us, you’re our Whitelighter. You protect us, teach us magic. But more than that, you’re family. And we would do anything to get you back.” 

“And to you?” he asked, seriously, stepping closer to the edge of the forcefield. “What am I to you?”

“Harry is my partner,” she said, softly smiling. “He has been in magic since he came into my life. The personal side of it is more recent.” 

He looked her up and down. Even though he had just met her, he was drawn to her. He wanted to trust her. He wanted to protect her. And he wanted to get his memories back. Because he felt like once he did, she would keep smiling. She had the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. “Alright, help me get my memories back then,” he said. “What’s your plan?”

She smiled, determined. “There’s a recipe for this lost memory balm. Basically, what I do is mix it all together and then smear it on your forehead. There’s an incantation I say and it should bring back any memories you have lost or repressed.” 

He looked at her, skeptically. “That seems too easy. What’s the catch?” he said. 

“There could be some side effects,” she admitted. “If I unlock memories that are too traumatic, there could be psychological and/or neurological damage. If it goes wrong, I know a spell to stop the process.” 

“And you’re sure this will work,” he asked her, seriously. 

“It’s the best shot I have right now,” she said, looking at him intensely. “But Harry, I need you to come back. The real you.” 

He nodded. “Alright, then. Can I do anything to help?”

She looked at him, suspiciously. “That would require me letting you out of the forcefield, so no. But you can keep me company while I work.”

“I’m not going to run anywhere,” he said, shooting her that mischievous smile that made her go slightly weak in the knees. “Like you said, I don’t know anything about the modern world.” 

“Yeah, I’m still going to play it safe,” she said, turning to start work on the balm. 

“Fine then,” he sighed, sitting back down. “Why don’t you fill me in on the past 60 years? Tell me what I’ve missed in the world.” 

She laughed. “Where would I even start?”

“How about an easy one?” he said, putting up his feet and relaxing. “Who’s the king of England?”

“You mean the queen? It’s Elizabeth II,” she said, laughing.

“Bloody hell, still!” he said, shocked. “Are witches immortal? Is she a witch?” Macy smiled as she could see Harry’s inherent curiosity coming through.

“Witches are not immortal and as far as I know, the Queen of England is not a witch,” she said, smiling. “She has definitely aged as you would expect. People just live longer now. And as far as anything else about British history, that’s not really my area of expertise. There was someone named Margaret Thatcher in the 80s and people hated her, but that was before my time.”

“How about movies? There are still movies, right?”

She laughed softly as she measured out ingredients. “Yes, Har...James, we still have movies. We have television shows. We have music. We have plays. We have podcasts, which I guess are kind of like the old radio shows you like.” 

“And what do you do for fun? What does Harry do for fun?” He was desperate to know more about her. As he watched her prepare her concoction, he became more entranced by her. She moved so elegantly. He could see how easy it must have been to fall in love with her. 

“I like to read, watch this old television show from the 90s, listen to music, bake, just normal stuff. Harry likes the same. He’s an amazing cook. He reads a lot. He listens to these old radio plays, probably the same ones that you like, honestly. Before we moved to Seattle, he was a women’s studies professor, so he did a lot of researching and teaching. He just loves to learn.”

“Women’s studies? What even is that?” he asked, confused. He could never see himself in any sort of an academic setting. He liked learning new things, but school was never a place where he felt comfortable. There were too many rules. He just wanted to be free to learn what he wanted in his own way. 

She rolled her eyes at him fondly. “It’s what it sounds like. Harry researched issues related to women. Politics, sociology, economics. How the structures of the world affect women and what could be done to better achieve equality. He’s brilliant.” 

He nodded. It was clear she adored Harry. She hadn’t stopped smiling since they started talking about his alter ego. “And has Harry always been your Whitelighter?” 

“He’s worked with other witches in the past. My sisters and I have only had our powers unbound for a couple of years. But he’s been with us from the beginning. He’s been our rock.” 

“What else do you do? What was your job before you were a witch?” 

“I’m a scientist,” she said confidently. “I have my doctorate in genetics, so I worked in a lab.”

“What’s genetics?” he asked, legitimately curious.

“Oh gosh, that’s right. You wouldn’t have been around when they discovered the genome. Okay, so in the simplest explanation possible.” She set off on an excited explanation of genes and chromosomes and other words he had no idea what they meant, but she was so enthusiastic. He sat back and just watched her, trying to take in at least some of what she was saying. 

After a few moments, she stopped and looked at him expectantly. “Did that make any sense at all?” she asked, hesitantly.

He smirked at her fondly. “Not even slightly, but you seemed really excited. There were a bunch of words in there I have no idea what they mean, so I’m just going to trust that you’re brilliant.” 

She looked back down at the balm she was stirring together. He could see just a hint of embarrassment on her face. “The balm has to just sit for about 10 minutes and then I’ll be able to put it on your forehead.” 

“And then I’ll be Harry again?” he asked, somewhat sadly. “Gotta say, never expected a girl to save my life like this.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, well, you’ll find that women are useful for more than looking pretty and raising children.” 

“I can’t speak for the raising children part of it, but you are awfully good at looking pretty, so don’t sell yourself short,” he said, flashing her his most charming smile. 

She looked in his eyes and smiled softly. She knew from Harry’s stories that James had been a bit of a cad. She began to think that if Harry and Jimmy were to merge, the ending result might be someone similar to James. She was glad to see that it seemed more of Harry’s good qualities were present. She felt at ease around James, even though she was desperate to get Harry’s memories back. It was killing her to not be able to kiss him as he was so openly flirting with her. 

She broke her gaze from his. “Right, well, we’ve got a little bit of time. How about I play you some music? Show you how it’s changed over time?” 

He nodded, wishing the forcefield would go away. He would love to take her in his arms and dance with her. Have one last moment with her as James before he was gone forever. 

She pulled out her phone and opened the Spotify app. “What is that?” he asked, confused by the device.

“It’s my phone,” she said. “And it’s also a computer. I can find pretty much any song in existence on the Internet.”

“That’s brilliant,” he said, amazed. “How does it work?”

She got close to the forcefield, as did he. They were practically shoulder to shoulder. She looked up at him. “If I lower this, do you promise not to run anywhere? I’ll block the doors if I have to.” 

He looked at her, softly. “No, Macy. I’m not going to run away.” 

She gasped. He sounded so much like Harry in that moment she almost forgot it wasn’t quite him. “Okay,” she whispered. “Dimitte ex carcere.” She walked over to the couch and sat down, motioning for him to sit next to her. 

He sat down, leaving just a hint of space between them. He watched as Macy’s fingers flew across the screen. She could even use her voice to tell the phone what to do. He had seen a lot of amazing things in the past 24 hours, but this new world kept finding ways to stun him. 

She played a song by The Beatles, figuring he should be caught up on the most important British band of recent history. He decided it was okay. Then she played a song by her favorite, Alicia Keys. He decided he liked that one much better, mainly because it made Macy get this soft smile on her face like she wanted to start singing along. 

Slightly more than 10 minutes later, she turned to James. “The balm should be done by now. Are you ready?”

He nodded. She went to stand up and he put his hand to stop her. “Wait, I just want one more moment with you. I know you know me as Harry and have all these other memories of us, but I want just one more moment with you as James. One that’s just mine.” 

She nodded and sat down next to him. He started intently into her eyes. Even though it made no sense, he was prepared to trust her with his life. Part of him didn’t want to get all of his memories back. He wouldn’t be himself anymore. He wouldn’t have any more moments like this with Macy. But he would in a way. This other version of himself would very much still have her. Maybe he would be able to hold on to this memory. 

She got up to grab the balm. He followed her to the center of the room. She reached out and started to smear the balm across his forehead. He jerked back instinctively as it was quite cold. She paused and gave him a slight smile, letting him know that he would be okay. He leaned back into her touch. As soon as his memories were back, the first thing he would do was kiss her. He wanted to do it now, but he knew it would be wrong. She wanted to kiss Harry, not James. 

She looked into his eyes, intently. “Release the blockage,” she said, softly. “Thaw the frost. Open your eyes to what was lost.” 

They both paused for a second before a large energy blast blew Macy into the air. She flew back into a wooden post a couple feet behind and slumped to the floor. Confused and in pain, she put her hand against her head, accidentally smearing some of the balm on her own forehead. “What the fuck?” she said, confused.

James rushed over to her. “Macy? Macy? Are you okay?” he said, leaning down next to her just before she passed out. “Oh, bloody hell,” he said, beginning to panic. He ran out of the room and down the stairs, hoping to find anyone else who was home and could help him. He had no idea what to do. He just knew he had to save her. 

He continued to run around the house, looking for anyone who might be able to help. He had no idea what to do. He had no medical training. No one seemed to be home. He had to get back to Macy, though. 

He ran back up to the attic and noticed a stream of blood coming out of her nose. “No, no, love,” he said, gathering her in his arms. He looked around for a towel or anything else. Seeing nothing, he took the corner of his shirt and wiped away the blood. 

While the balm had done nothing to restore his memories, it had started to restore his emotions. He had been hit with an even stronger wave of love for her. He could stop at nothing to save her. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. 

* * *

Maggie and Jordan sat in the Command Center, drinking tea while they waited for Mel and Ray to get back. Maggie had been able to calm down with some assistance from Jordan. As the portal opened, Maggie realized that she would be introducing her dad to her boyfriend. Mel stepped through and headed straight for her sister.

“Hey, are you okay?” Mel said, looking over Maggie like she was checking for injuries.

“I’m fine. Really,” Maggie said, shrugging off her sister’s hand. “Jordan helped take care of me.” 

“Little Bug,” Ray said, rushing over to give her a hug. “I missed you so much. Are you doing okay?”

“I’m fine, Ray,” she said. “Honestly, doing much better now. And there’s someone I want you to meet.” Jordan stood up and walked over next to Maggie, nervously. 

“Ah, I remember the birthday boy,” Ray said, reaching out to shake his hand. “How are you doing?” 

“Yeah, well, Jordan is my boyfriend now,” Maggie said. 

Ray looked the man up and down. “How old are you again?” he asked, suspiciously. 

“26, sir,” Jordan said. 

“You’re aware my daughter is 20,” Ray said, crossing his arms. “Do you normally date women so much younger than yourself?”

“Ray, stop it,” Mel said. “Maggie’s almost 21 and Jordan’s a really good guy. We wouldn’t have let him get as close if he wasn’t.” 

Ray continued to glare at Jordan. “I imagine Mel’s seal of approval is harder to get than mine is, so I will just have to be okay with this. I don’t have to like you yet, though.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “I’m not looking for your approval here, Ray.”

“It’s okay, Maggie,” Jordan said. “It’s fine if I have to earn your dad’s trust. I intend on being around for a while in order to do just that.”

Maggie smiled at him and squeezed his hand. Mel nodded approvingly. “Alright, let’s get to work,” Mel said. She rolled out a poster board with maps, receipts, flight plans, and a plethora of other documents on it.

“Wow, you’ve been busy,” Maggie said.

“I’ve been gathering every bit of information I can find on the Faction,” Ray said. 

The four looked over the information, trying to find any patterns, any clues that would help them defeat the Faction. “Secret meetings in Florida, shipping routes in the Midwest. The Faction is everywhere,” Mel said, lost on where to start.

Ray pointed to a piece of paper in the top right corner. “Look at these private jet manifests. The same people you saw at the Shea Group fundraiser, all flying together somewhere.”

“And all the destinations are left blank,” Mel pointed out. 

“Wherever these people have been going, that is where we need to be,” Ray said.

“Is there anything about forty stones?” Mel said, glancing over the paper.

“What did you say?” Ray said, excitedly. 

“The only clue Harry had for us was a Forty Stone Parasite,” Mel said. “He said that’s the only thing he remembered them talking about.”

“Of course,” Ray exclaimed. “The Iguazu Circle! It’s the Stonehenge of Brazil. There’s a ring of 40 stones thought to have supernatural powers.”

Mel nodded. “That has to be it then! The rainforests down there are filled with parasitic monsters. Maybe the Faction is going after them.”

Maggie and Jordan looked at each other, uncertain that was the right path. “I don’t know, guys,” Maggie said. “There’s nothing about Brazil on this map.”

“And it seems like the Faction has stayed pretty domestic so far,” Jordan added. “They haven’t left the continental US for any other thing that we’ve found.”

“That’s just because they are very good at covering their tracks, Little Bug,” Ray said. “No, the Iguazu Circle has to be what was meant by the Forty Stone Parasite.” 

Mel ran over to the control panel and opened a portal to Brazil. “You ready?” she said, looking back at the others.

Maggie looked over at Jordan. “I think we’re going to stay here for this one, keep going through this information. I’m still not 100 percent yet,” she said. 

“We’ll be back soon,” Mel said as she and Ray jumped through the portal. 

Once Mel and Ray were gone, Maggie looked at Jordan. “There’s no way they’re going to find anything in Brazil,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Probably not, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to rule it out,” he said. “How are you doing?”

“I’m okay,” she said. “I don’t know why Ray feels the need to do the whole protective dad act with you. He’s hardly around and it’s not like I’m his real daughter, anyway.”

“Yeah, but he still loves you,” Jordan said, putting his arms around her. “And besides, I don’t mind. I already got the seal of approval from Mel. She’s way scarier than Ray is. Come on, let’s figure out what else the parasite thing could be.” 

Maggie looked at some of the papers and began to roll her eyes. “I figured it out,” she said, grabbing a marker and starting to circle things. Jordan looked over her shoulder, trying to see what the solution was.

“Of course,” he said, laughing. “That makes a lot more sense. They’ll be back soon enough.” 

Just a few moments later, the portal reopened. Mel and Ray stepped back into the Command Center, covered in swamp and slime. Maggie stood there, her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised. “Let me guess, it wasn’t the place?” 

“Yeah, I don’t want to talk about it,” Mel said, shuddering.

“I’m sorry, girls,” Ray said, shaking his head. “I just don’t know where else we’ll find a Forty Stone Parasite.”

“Nowhere,” Maggie said. “Because that’s not what Harry heard.” 

Mel’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“He was delirious,” Maggie said, walking back over to their information board. “He thought they were saying Forty Stone Parasite, but they were actually saying Fort Easton Power Site. It’s an abandoned military base in Oregon built around a hydroelectric dam. Six months ago, the government sold it to an undisclosed buyer.” 

“The Shea Group,” Jordan added. “It’s big, it’s isolated, and it’s got a built-in power supply. So, you know, basically a supervillain’s dream house.” 

“Way to go, Little Bug,” Ray said, squeezing Maggie’s shoulders. 

“Can you stop that?” Maggie said. “I’m not a child anymore.” 

“I know you’re not,” Ray said, concerned. “I’m just saying I’m proud of you.” 

Maggie’s phone began to ring. She looked down at the caller ID. “It’s Macy. Maybe there’s news on Harry,” she said, answering it.

“Hello! Hello!” Harry’s voice yelled through the speaker.

“Jesus, Harry,” Maggie said, pulling the phone away from her ear and putting it on speaker. “You don’t have to yell at us. But I’m guessing your memories are back?” she said, excitedly. 

“I need help! Something went wrong! She won’t stop shaking,” he continued to yell.

Jordan grabbed the phone. “Harry, what do you mean she won’t stop shaking?”

“Still not Harry,” he yelled. “Macy, she got thrown backwards and hit her head on a pole. Her nose was bleeding and now she’s convulsing. I need help.”

They all looked at each other, panicking. “I’m on my way there, Harry...James, whoever you are,” Jordan yelled. “You need to turn her on her side to keep her from choking. Just stay where you are. Don’t try to move her anywhere else. I’ll be there in less than five minutes.” 

“Hurry,” James yelled back at them.

“You guys keep a first aid kit down here now, right?” Jordan asked. 

“Yeah, ever since we had to steal yours,” Maggie said, running over to the cabinet. “We got one of our own.”

Mel opened the portal to the manor. “Do you need us to go with you?” Ray asked. “How can we help?”

“No, I got this,” Jordan said. “You guys go to Fort Easton. I’ll text you as soon as Macy’s okay.” He gave Maggie a quick kiss. “And she will be okay.”

He jumped through the portal as Maggie and Mel stood there with Ray. “Is he sure he doesn’t need our help?” Ray asked his daughters. 

“Yes, Ray,” Maggie said, irritated. “He was a freaking medic in the Army. He doesn’t need your help.”

“I just want to be sure that your sister is okay, Little...Maggie,” Ray said. “I know how important she is to you.” 

Maggie nodded. “She is. But Jordan knows what he’s doing. He’s probably seen way worse when he was deployed.” 

“He seems quite impressive. I’m looking forward to getting to know him more,” Ray said, trying to mend fences with his daughter. “Let’s see if we can get some answers at Fort Easton.”

Mel grabbed Maggie’s shoulders in a half-hug. “She’ll be fine. Are you good?”

“I’m fine,” Maggie nodded. “Let’s go.” Mel opened the portal and they stepped through. They landed in a wooded area just outside of the dam. They looked through the trees and saw several armed guards at each entrance. 

“Do you hear that?” Ray asked. “This place generates enough power to run an entire city.” 

“We just have to get inside,” Mel said, walking towards the building. “Find out what the Faction is using it for.” 

“And how do you propose we do that?” Maggie asked, annoyed. “We have no plan. You can’t just melt your way through human guards and I’m not bringing a baton to a gunfight.” 

“We’ll figure it out, Mags,” Mel said. “Let’s just get closer.”

Ray studied the area, looking for any way into the building. “You know, this kind of reminds me of the Lonely Lair.”

Mel looked around and her eyes got wider. “Omigod, it does. You’re right!”

“The Lonely Lair? What are you talking about?” Maggie asked, confused, looking around for an unmanned entrance.

“It’s from Battledown,” Mel explained. “It’s just this game that Ray and I have been playing online.”

Maggie whipped around and glared at them, her eyes wide. “You guys have been playing online games together? You don’t even like video games, Mel.”

Mel looked down, guiltily. “Well, Ray got me into this one. It’s kind of fun.”

Maggie started to feel the panic overtaking her again. Her skin began to burn and her breathing got shallow. “So, it’s not just the Faction. You’ve been playing games together. You have this whole secret relationship with each other.”

“Mags, come on,” Mel said, pulling her off the road and into the forest. “You’re going to blow our cover.” 

“You know what, I don’t care right now,” Maggie yelled. “For months, Macy and I have been focused on spilling our guts to each other, to you. We’ve been adamant that there can be no secrets between us. You remember what the Guardian said. Secrets will just tear us apart. And meanwhile, you’ve been leading this whole double life! So, what the hell, Mel?” 

“Maggie, this isn’t you right now,” Mel said, trying to get her sister to sit down. “This has to be that poison or the neurotoxin.”

“It’s not a fucking neurotoxin!” Maggie yelled. “It’s panic. I’ve been having panic attacks.” 

“Since when?” Mel asked, confused. 

“Since this morning, or maybe yesterday at the gala, or the night before,” Maggie said, sitting down and putting her head between her knees. “I don’t know how long for sure.”

Ray sat down and put his hand on her back. “You’ve been having them since you were a kid. Do you remember Dr. Gordon?”

Maggie looked up, confused. “Mom’s work friend?”

Ray grimaced. “Yes, well, she was a therapist. We didn’t want you to know it was therapy because you were already so upset about the divorce. You were refusing to go to school. You were hyperventilating to the point you passed out. So, you were seeing Dr. Gordon to treat you for…”

“For panic attacks?” Maggie asked, outraged. “So instead of just telling me the truth and letting me know that it’s perfectly natural to have panic attacks in times of extreme stress, you hid it from me like it was something to be ashamed of.” She took a deep breath and looked at her father and sister. “That’s the problem in this family. We hide so many things from each other.”

“Maggie, that’s not fair,” Mel said.

“No, it’s not fair!” Maggie said, standing up. “You treat me like I’m some fragile thing that’s going to break. You think I’m not strong enough to handle the truth.” She started pacing, getting more agitated. She glared at her dad. “That’s why you didn’t tell me the truth that you’re not my biological dad.” She turned to glare at Mel. “And that’s why you didn’t tell you two are BFFs now.” 

“Mags, I’m sorry,” Mel said, reaching out for her sister. “Now really isn’t the time, though.” 

“No,” Maggie yelled, shrugging off Mel’s hand. “I’m pissed. And I’m hurt. And I’m so tired of pretending that I’m not.” She walked over to stand in front of Ray. “Look, I get that it must have sucked finding out your wife cheated on you and had a kid that wasn’t yours. But it sucks even more to be that kid! My life has so many missing pieces in it now. I can’t talk to mom. Dexter is dead. You are the only person that can fill in those blanks, Ray. That’s why I needed to talk to you about this stuff. Not Mel, not Macy. I needed you. And you were nowhere to be found.” 

She put her hands out in frustration and a wave of energy burst forth in the direction of the armed guards. They stopped in their tracks and then began to punch each other. 

“Omigod,” Mel said, her eyes wide as she looked at the guards.

“What happened?” Maggie said, turning around worriedly.

“I think you did that,” Mel said, confused. “When you were letting out all that anger, it’s like your powers expanded. Like you projected your emotions onto them.” 

“My powers expanded? Omigod, my powers expanded,” Maggie said, excitedly. 

“Listen, Maggie,” Ray said, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Let’s just go in there, okay? Let’s see what they’re up to. When we get back home, I promise I will start filling in some of those missing pieces. Any questions you have. I’ll be an open book.” 

“Okay,” Maggie said, smiling nervously. “I’d like that a lot.” Ray put his arm around her shoulder and she rested her head against him, letting herself be comforted for a moment by the only father she had ever known. The moment couldn’t last, though. They needed to get into that factory. 

* * *

Jordan rushed into the house through the portal and ran straight to the attic. James was sitting on the floor with Macy in his arms. He held her hand lovingly, softly stroking the back of it with his thumb. 

“How’s she doing?” Jordan asked, kneeling down next to them.

“She stopped convulsing,” James said, relieved. 

“Good, that’s a good thing,” he said, trying to reassure him. 

“Yeah, but I didn’t do anything,” James said, confused. “Once I held her, she just seemed so at ease. Like she was dreaming.” He reached down and caressed her face. “Tell me she’s going to be okay. I need her to be okay.”

Jordan looked at him, confused. The way he was talking about Macy and holding her was how he would have expected Harry to be acting, not someone who had essentially met her a day earlier. “Wait, do you have your memories back? Are you Harry again?”

“No, I’m still James,” he said, agitated. “The balm didn’t restore my memories, but it did something to my emotions. All I know is that Macy has to be okay. I will do anything to make sure she is okay. Now, tell me what to do.” 

Jordan leaned down to check her pulse and check her vitals. “Oh god, she’s not breathing,” he said, immediately starting chest compressions.

“What? What do you mean she’s not breathing?” James yelled.

“I mean exactly what I said. Seizures can cause chest muscles to tighten over the lungs. Harry, James, whoever the fuck you are, you need to heal her.” 

“I can’t,” he yelled, irritated. “I don’t know how to do that.” 

“Really? Nothing? Nothing is coming back?” 

“No!” 

“Shit, her pulse is getting weaker. Look, I can keep doing chest compressions, but the only thing that is going to save her is magic. Tell me everything that happened.”

“Okay, she was catching me up on the past 60 years and we were laughing and listening to music. And she was smiling,” James said, trying to go through everything.

“Everything about the magic. I don’t think the music and flirting is what did this,” Jordan said, continuing the chest compressions. 

“Right, of course. She called it a balm. It was supposed to restore lost memories or something like that, but there was a blast and she went flying backwards across the room.”

“Okay, well, clearly the spell backfired. The question is why?”

James turned his head to look at Macy and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “I don’t know. Is she any good at magic? Could she have messed up somehow?”

“Yeah, that’s not it. Macy’s brilliant.” Jordan reached over and grabbed James’ face. “What is that behind your ear?”

James reached up and touched the back of his ear, feeling a fresh scar. “I don’t know. That’s never been there before. At least not that I remember.” 

Jordan sighed in relief. “Of course, the Faction probably put some sort of a magic blocker in your head. That would explain the spell blowback, the memory loss, all of it.” He stepped away from Macy to go over to the first aid kit.

James immediately reached over and tried to keep the compressions going. He kept pressing Macy’s chest, trying to imitate Jordan’s actions. “What are you doing? Stopping this will kill her.” 

Jordan smirked slightly. “Those are not chest compressions. You’re basically just groping her right now. And I need to cut whatever is in your head out. That should give you back your magic and your memory. Then you can heal her.” He pulled a scalpel out of the first aid kit and kneeled down next to James. 

James looked at him, hesitantly. “And you know what you’re doing?”

“I have emergency field training,” Jordan nodded. “Now come on, Har. Lay down on the couch so I can get a better angle on it.” 

James looked back down at Macy, who was lying completely still. She looked so close to death. He didn’t hesitate for a moment longer and ran to the couch. “Alright, fix this,” he said, determined. 

* * *

Mel, Maggie, and Ray walked hesitantly towards the guards, who had succeeded in punching each other to the point they were knocked out. As they realized their path was clear, they ran forward. Mel melted the lock off the door and they walked inside.

They started walking through the halls, not quite sure what they were looking for. As they turned a corner, a man carrying a clipboard stopped them. “Excuse me,” he said, agitated. “How did you get in here?”

“Through the main entrance, of course,” Maggie said, snottily. “How else would we have gotten in here?”

“Are you here for the demonstration?” the man asked them. 

“Exactly,” Ray said in an authoritative manner. “Now where is it? We’ve heard so many great things about this damn...dam. So far, I must say it is quite underwhelming.”

“Yes, well,” the man said, trying to smooth things over. “You are slightly early.” 

“Well, we don’t have all day,” Mel added. 

“You don’t get to where we are by being late,” Maggie said, crossing her arms.

“Of course,” the man said. “Please follow me.” He led them into a control room that looked out upon a sea of pneumatic tubes suspended in water. An alarm began to blare as a voice over the loudspeaker announced a lockdown had been initiated. Armed guards burst into the room and drew their guns. 

The three looked at each other, concerned. Mel put her hands out as if she were going to melt the guns. “Mel, no,” Ray said. “They’ll shoot.” 

The guards moved to the side as Julian walked through the middle. “Maggie? Mel?” he asked, confused. “What are you doing here?”

“I’d ask you the same thing,” Maggie said. “But everyone knows the handsome billionaire is always the bad guy.” She pulled the marble out of her pocket and threw it, opening the portal to escape with Mel and Ray.

They landed back in the Command Center. “Oh fuck,” Mel said. “He knows what we are and where we are. Our cover is totally blown now. SafeSpace isn’t safe for us anymore.” 

“Macy was right,” Maggie agreed. “We need to get home.” 

* * *

Harry looked at Jordan hesitantly as the scalpel got closer to his head. He closed his eyes and tilted his head up, letting Jordan get to the raised scar. Just behind his ear, there was a small microchip implanted. Jordan carefully pulled it out and moments later, Harry’s eyes burst open. “Jordan, oh god,” he said. 

“Harry? Is it you?” Jordan asked, stepping out of Harry’s way.

“Yes, it’s me,” he said, kneeling down next to Macy. “Oh love, oh god.” He held his hand over her and focused his energy on healing her. “Please, love. Please be okay.” 

Macy lay perfectly still and then let out a loud cough. She went to sit up. “Harry? Is it really you?” she asked, her eyes tearing up. 

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. “It’s me, love. It’s really me.” He kissed her forehead and then her lips again. “Oh god, Macy.” 

“Harry,” she cried. “I was so worried.” 

“I know, my love,” he said, not ready to let her go yet. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” 

Jordan cleared his throat, wanting to remind them there was still someone present in the room with them. “You guys good?” he asked. “Can I check you both over for my own peace of mind?” 

“Where are your sisters?” Harry asked Macy, panicking. 

“They went after the Forty Stone Parasite,” Macy said, moving over to the couch so Jordan could check her vitals and look for any signs of a concussion. 

“That’s what I was worried about,” Harry said. “It’s not that.”

“Harry, we figured that out already,” Jordan said, putting his hand out. 

“We did?” Macy asked, confused.

“We did. It’s the Fort Easton Power Site,” Jordan said, clarifying.

“We need to find them, right now,” Harry said. He put his hands on Jordan and Macy’s shoulders to try to orb. “Damn it, they must have put more of that green poison into my system.”

“Harry, what’s wrong?” Jordan asked. “What are they walking into?” 

Just as Harry was about to let Macy know Julian was the one behind everything, Mel, Maggie, and Ray came running into the attic. 

“You all are okay,” Harry said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“And so are you,” Maggie said, panting to catch her breath. “I have not run that much in a long time and I am not a fan of it.” 

“We’re all okay,” Macy said, standing up. “All back to normal.”

“Like normal normal? As in you’re our Harry again and not fucking Sprog,” Mel said, steadily getting her breath back.

“100 percent Harry Greenwood again,” he said, smiling. “Promise.”

“Good to see you again, BBC,” Ray said, coming over to shake his hand. “These ladies were all very worried about you.” 

Harry smiled, shaking Ray’s hand and then putting his arm back around Macy’s waist. “They knew exactly what to do to get me back.”

“We had a great teacher,” Macy said, looking into his eyes. They stared into each other’s eyes and started to move their faces closer together. 

“How about Jordan and I make dinner for the rest of you?” Ray said, clapping his hands together. “I’d like to get to know the gentleman dating my daughter. And the rest of us could sit down to a nice family dinner.” 

Macy and Harry looked at each other, both desperately wanting to be alone together for the first time in several days. “We wouldn’t want to intrude on a family gathering,” Macy started.

“Nonsense,” Ray said, shaking his head. “You are my daughters’ sister. It’s high time I get to know you. And BBC, I don’t know how exactly to describe your relationship, but from everything I can tell, you’re a member of the family as well.”

“He is,” Mel nodded. “He is very much family.” 

Harry smiled fondly. “That sounds lovely, Ray. Thank you.” He turned to Macy once more as Jordan and Ray left the room to start dinner. “I think I’m going to take this chance to get cleaned up a bit. Take a shower. Change my clothes.” 

“Okay,” Macy said, smiling at him. “I’ll come get you when dinner is ready?” He nodded and leaned in to kiss her, lingering just a moment longer than was necessary for a quick goodbye kiss. 

Maggie and Mel sank down on the couch, watching Macy as she stared after Harry. 

“Alright, Mace, come here,” Maggie said, reaching out for her sister. “Calm yourself down a bit before you need to go take a cold shower, too.” 

Macy glared jokingly. “Oh, shut up. Like you weren’t doing the same thing when Jordan came back from Idaho.”

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Maggie said. “So, fill us in on what we missed today?”

Macy thought back to her time with James. She decided that could stay between the two of them. And Harry, if he remembered any of it. “I actually did have something weird,” she said. “When I was unconscious, some of the lost memory balm ended up on my forehead. I remembered meeting mom when I was in college,” she said, smiling.

“Wait? What?” Mel said, excited. “But the necromancer’s curse.”

“She never laid her eyes on me,” Macy explained. “My fire powers manifested themselves when I was at a karaoke night.”

“Wait,  _ you _ were doing karaoke?” Maggie asked, confused. “What were you singing?”

“ _ That’s  _ what you’re focused on? I just told you I met our dead mother and you want to know about karaoke?” Macy said, rolling her eyes.

“I can believe that you met Mom at some point. I can’t believe that you were singing karaoke,” Maggie said, jokingly.

“Fine,” Macy said. “I was singing ‘Forget You.’ And I love singing. I used to love to perform, but then I got focused on science and I just kind of stopped. Is that enough detail? Can I continue with the important part of the story?” 

“We are absolutely going to karaoke together sometime and I will require pictures of this time in your life later, but yes, please continue,” Maggie said, gesturing for her to keep talking.

“Anyway, this guy came up behind me and grabbed my ass. I was a little bit drunk and fire shot out of my hands,” Macy explained. “I went home and told my dad. Of course, he instantly knew what was going on. So, he called Marisol to come and talk to me about it. She sat behind a sheet and told me all about how I needed to learn to contain my emotions. It was great to spend that time with her, but I was so wrong about so many things.” Tears started to roll down her cheeks.

“Are you okay?” Mel asked, concerned.

“Yeah, I’m just letting myself feel these feelings for the first time,” Macy nodded, taking a deep breath. “My whole life, I believed that restraint was this essential part of who I am, but maybe it’s not. Maybe Marisol and my dad imposed that upon me to protect me from my demonic side because I didn’t know how to handle it.” 

“So, what happened?” Maggie asked. “Why didn’t you remember that before today?”

Macy smiled. “Marisol had Harry wipe my memory.”

“Wait, our Harry? Your Harry?” Mel asked, surprised. 

“Wow,” Maggie sighed. “So, what was he like back then?”

“He was perfect,” Macy said fondly. “I mean, he was the full buttoned up, Windsor knot version from when we first met him, of course. But he was gentle. Sweet and kind. In my darkest moment, when I was terrified, he was there for me.” 

“Mom must have wiped his memory,” Mel said. “So he wouldn’t be tempted to tell you. There’s no way he would have kept that secret from you.” 

“I wonder,” Macy started. “Mom had the gift of prophecy. Do you think she knew?” 

“That you guys were destined for each other,” Maggie smiled. “I bet she did.” 

“Speaking of destiny,” Mel sighed. “I don’t know what Julian has planned, but if he needs a full magical army to do it, it can’t be good. We’re going to have to save the world again.”

“Then we’ll take him down,” Macy nodded. “We can do this. As long as we have each other, we can do anything.”

Mel nodded. “And Mags, I’m sorry. I should have told you I was talking more to Ray. I just didn’t want you to be jealous.” 

“It’s okay,” Maggie nodded. “Yes, you should have told me, but I get it. We each need to work through our very complicated relationship with our dad.” 

“Are you doing okay now?” Mel asked, concerned. “No more panic attacks?”

“You had a panic attack?” Macy asked, worried. “When?”

Maggie shrugged. “A couple this morning. Or maybe just one extended one. And maybe the beginnings of one yesterday at the gala. And possibly the night Jordan came back from Idaho.” She sighed. “I felt so silly. You guys already see me as a baby. Now, you’re never going to trust me.”

“Stop that,” Macy said. “We don’t see you as a baby. And you act like you’re the only one of us to have ever had a panic attack. Do you not remember when I came back from the Darklighter? That was basically one giant panic attack.”

“Well, yeah, but you were traumatized,” Maggie argued. “You didn’t lose control of your body just because your dad was coming back and you didn’t know what to say to him.” 

Macy reached out to grab Maggie’s hand. “I had my first panic attack in eighth grade. I said some generically bitchy thing about this girl in my French class. This other girl heard and told her what I had said. I was so convinced that I was going to get in trouble, get detention, get suspended from school, and so on. I thought I’d never get into a good college, never get a good job. I thought I had completely ruined my life with that one comment. I spent two hours hyperventilating until the assistant principal finally calmed me down and just told me to apologize to her.” 

Maggie smiled. “Really?” 

“Yeah, Mags,” Macy said. “I was an extremely high-strung teenager who was desperately trying to restrain every single emotion I ever felt. I had a panic attack or two. You’re not a baby because of that. Besides, I was starting to have another one the night Harry was missing.” She grabbed Mel’s hand and smiled. “Until you guys stepped in with that calming draught and helped me, even though I was being kind of awful to you.” 

Mel smiled. “It was nothing. I didn’t take it personally. And just because I’ve never had a panic attack, it doesn’t mean I can’t sympathize with you,” she said, putting her hand on Maggie’s knee. “I don’t think you’re weak or a baby. I’m in awe of how strong you are. I don’t know when you turned into this amazing woman, but I’m so proud to call you my sister.” 

Maggie reached out to hug Mel. “Thank you,” she said, starting to cry. She reached her arm out to pull Macy into the hug as well. “I love you guys.” 

“Love you, too,” both sisters responded. 

“Now come on, let’s go save your boyfriend from his interrogation by Ray,” Mel said, laughing. 

* * *

While the sisters were upstairs, Harry quickly showered and changed his clothes. He needed to grab Jordan before the sisters came downstairs. 

Harry ran into the kitchen as Jordan and Ray were chatting pleasantly about their various experiences overseas. “Apologies, Jordan, can I borrow you for a few moments?” he asked.

Jordan looked at him, confused. “Yeah, of course. What’s up?” 

“I just need some help in the backyard for a moment,” he said, excitedly. 

Jordan laughed and followed him to the backyard. “What is up with you, man?”

“I’m taking Macy on a date after dinner,” Harry said, opening the garden shed. 

“To the backyard?” Jordan asked, his eyebrow raised.

“It’s not the location I would necessarily have picked, but it’s the best I can do on such short notice. And I’m not waiting any longer for this,” he said, digging through stacks of garden tools. “Ah, here it is.” He pulled out a string of twinkle lights. “Help me put these up.” 

They wound the lights around the archway in the center of the backyard. “You literally have magic,” Jordan said, confused. “Why don’t you just glamour the backyard?”

“That’s using magic for personal gain,” Harry explained. “And considering the last two times I have planned a date with Macy, one of us has been kidnapped, I’m not taking any chances tonight.” They finished putting up the lights. Harry pulled out a box of candles he had grabbed from the upstairs closet and set them on the deck and along the ground. “Okay, towards the end of dinner, I just need you to distract Macy so I can finish setting up out here. I need to go grab a couple more things.” 

Jordan smiled. “Do you need anything else from me?”

“Just make sure no one comes out here, especially Macy,” he said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He snapped his fingers and orbed away. The poison had left his system enough that he could manage the short trip to the bakery near SafeSpace and back. He bought the last things he needed and came back home, sneaking them into the house just before the sisters walked downstairs. 

He sat at the counter, attempting to make casual conversation with Ray as he finished cooking the posole. His leg shook nervously in anticipation. He had dinner with Macy a million times. This part wasn’t even their date. 

“You okay there, BBC?” Ray asked. “You’re normally slightly calmer than this, you know, based on the couple times I’ve met you.” 

Harry took a deep breath. He had to regain control or else Macy would know something was up immediately. “Just really excited for dinner tonight,” he shrugged, trying to play it cool and failing miserably. 

Ray laughed. “Somehow I doubt that’s the case. Now, I know Jordan is taken by Maggie. You’re not even close to Mel’s type. And both Macy and you seemed like you wanted to be alone with each other while we were in the attic, so I’m guessing you have plans for later tonight.”

“Am I that transparent?” he said, hanging his head.

“Very much so, yes,” Ray nodded. “But I appreciate you both putting your plans on hold for a bit. Anyone who is so important to my girls is someone special. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better. Hopefully, you’ll see me around a little more often.”

“We would enjoy that,” Harry said. “Especially Mel and Maggie. They’d love to see more of you.” 

“We’d love to see more of who?” Maggie asked as she walked in with her sisters. She walked over to Jordan and gave him a hug, leaning in for a quick kiss.

“Your dad,” Harry said. “He was just saying how he’d like to be around more often.”

“We would like that,” Maggie agreed. “Ooh, you made your posole?” 

“Of course I did,” Ray said. “Even made a special pot without the pork for my favorite vegan-ish daughter,” he said, handing Maggie the bowl reserved for her. 

Harry and Jordan helped carry the rest of the food to the table, each sitting down next to their girlfriends. Mel and Ray sat at the ends of the table and everyone began passing around bowls. Ray poured some wine for everyone. 

“I’d like to propose a toast,” Ray said, raising his glass. “To family, whether that be by blood or by choice. No bond is stronger than love.” 

They all clinked their glasses together and took a sip of their wine. Throughout dinner, Ray regaled them all with his tales of wandering around the world in search of lost artifacts. He shared stories of Mel and Maggie’s childhood, highlighting some of the happier times with their mother. Macy offered some of her stories of her father, a topic she was nervous to bring up, especially in front of Ray. He encouraged her to share those memories, though, knowing it was important for Maggie to hear stories about the biological father she would never get to meet. Harry told some of his adventures with his earlier charges. Jordan joined in with stories of his childhood. As they drained the wine and devoured Ray’s posole, they took time to enjoy the fact that they were sitting there together, all safe at home. 

Macy and Harry’s hands stayed joined under the table throughout dinner, except for when they were eating. Then Harry’s hand rested on Macy’s knee. She wound her leg around his, pulling him closer to her. She looked over at him and smiled shyly. She knew he wanted to take her out on a date before they had sex again, but she couldn’t wait. After the emotional rollercoaster of the past couple days, she just wanted to take him to bed with her. 

As dinner started to wind down, Jordan pulled Maggie and Mel into the living room with him, saying he needed help picking out a board game to play. He could have given any nonsense reason, for all the attention Macy and Harry were paying him. They had done their best to stay engaged in the conversation with everyone, but it was clear they were on their own planet together.

“What’s up?” Mel asked, confused. “Do we even have any board games?”

“I don’t know,” Jordan said. “Why would I know that?” 

“Then what are we doing in here?” Maggie asked. 

“I need your help to keep Macy distracted for a few minutes,” Jordan said. 

“Macy? Why?” Mel asked.

“So Harry can finish setting up the backyard for their date tonight,” Jordan said. 

“Wait? Really,” Maggie said, excitedly. “That is the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.” She turned to Mel. “Hacy’s finally happening for real.” 

“It’s been happening,” Mel said, rolling her eyes. “For a while now. We’ve all heard and/or seen them.” 

“Shut up, relationship grinch,” Maggie said. “Just let me have this.”

“Seriously,” Jordan added. “We worked so hard on that backyard earlier. You let them have this.”

Mel looked at the two of them. “You two are perfect for each other,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Okay, fine, we’ll distract Macy.” 

“Excellent,” Jordan said, smiling. “Harry just needs to finish lighting the candles and take everything outside.”

They walked back into the dining room. Maggie tried to contain her smile, so as not to tip off Macy. Jordan gave a subtle nod to Harry, letting him know he had the all clear. 

“Hey, Mace, can you help me get something upstairs?” Maggie asked. “I want to pull out some of our old photo albums, but they’re up on a high shelf.”

Macy looked at her, confused. “Why don’t you ask Jordan? He’s like half a foot taller than me.”

“Oh well, that is because I’m helping Ray to do the dishes,” Jordan said, trying to cover.

“And I think they might be on the shelf in mom’s closet, which is now your closet, and we don’t want to violate your space,” Maggie said. 

“Yeah, okay, I’ll help you get them,” she said, standing up. She leaned down to kiss Harry. “I’ll be right back.”

As soon as Macy and Maggie left the room, Harry grabbed their dessert and champagne out of the refrigerator and took it outside, setting the table underneath the archway. Mel followed behind, helping him to light all the candles. Jordan kept an eye out for the sisters, making sure they didn’t come outside too early. 

“Okay, you got everything, man?” Jordan asked.

“I’ve got everything,” he said. “Just tell her to come outside.” 

“Mace, you’re going to love looking at all these old pictures,” they heard Maggie yelling from the hallway.

Jordan and Mel ran back inside the kitchen. Mel sat at the counter, attempting for casual, but even she was starting to get caught up in the excitement. Jordan started drying the dishes Ray had been washing. 

“Why are you yelling like that?” Macy asked as they stepped back into the kitchen. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the sisters. “Why are you all being weird?” She looked around. “Wait, where’d Harry go?” 

“Oh, I think he said something about needing some fresh air,” Mel said. “Why don’t you go get some fresh air, too?” 

“Okay?” Macy said, skeptically. She stepped into the backyard to see Harry standing among a sea of candles and twinkle lights. She instantly smiled the brightest smile he had ever seen on her face. “Harry, what is all this?” 

“This may not have been the exact scenario I had planned for us, but the first time I planned something, you got kidnapped. And then the second time, I got kidnapped. And I didn’t want to wait anymore. So, Macy Vaughn, if you’ll indulge me, this is our first date,” he said, stepping towards her with a small bouquet of wildflowers. “These are for you.” 

She took the flowers and smiled, enjoying the fresh floral scent. “Harry, they’re beautiful. Let me just put them in a vase really quick.”

“Oh, I can take care of that for you,” Maggie said, stepping out to grab the flowers. Jordan, Mel and Ray all stood at the doorway, each smiling at the couple. “And then we’ll all stop watching you like creepers and let you enjoy the rest of your date in peace.” 

Macy laughed. “Were you all in on this?” They nodded in unison. “Thank you, guys, but yeah, we’ll take that privacy now.” 

The others stepped back inside the house, leaving the two lovers alone in the backyard. Harry stepped forward, putting his arms around Macy. “I know I promised you time together away from here and from the Command Center, but…”

She leaned in and kissed him. “It’s perfect, Harry. When did you even have time to do all of this?” 

“It wasn’t much,” he said, leading her over to the table. “I just orbed to the bakery near SafeSpace and picked up some dessert for us. And a bottle of champagne. Jordan helped me put up the lights. Mel helped with the candles. I thought we could listen to more of the music you were playing for James earlier and dance.” 

“You remember that?” she asked, embarrassed. “Are you mad I was flirting with him? Because he had your face and your charm, so I couldn’t really help myself.”

“I remember everything,” he said, pulling her chair out for her to sit. He opened the box of chocolate-covered strawberries and poured a glass of champagne for each of them. “And I’m not mad. He was instantly taken with you. Then that balm restored my emotions before my memories, so it was like I was still James but with all my feelings for you. I don’t know how else to describe it.” 

“So, if you remember everything, do you remember what I said to you in my bedroom last night?” she asked, hesitantly. 

“Yes,” he said, reaching for her hand. “But can I be selfish and ask you to say it again so I can properly react this time?”

She bit her lip nervously. “I don’t know if I remember all of it. I kind of made it up on the spot.” 

“I’m pretty sure you’ll remember the part I wanted to hear the most.”

“Okay, here goes.” She grabbed his hands between hers and turned to face him. “Harry Greenwood, I am in love with you. Completely head over heels, butterflies in my stomach, can’t think straight when you look at me, in love with you. And I’m done letting that scare me. I’m done running from my feelings. Because when I stop thinking about all the ways this could go wrong and just ask myself what I want, the answer is you. I want you more than I have ever wanted anyone. More than I ever thought it was possible to want someone. You are my everything, Harry Greenwood. So, even though we already live together and sleep together most nights, can I officially call you my boyfriend now?” 

He leaned forward and captured her lips with his. She broke the kiss, resting her forehead against his and sighing. He pulled back and looked in her eyes. “I am so hopelessly in love with you, Macy Vaughn. I have never in any lifetime felt for anyone the way I feel for you. You take my breath away every time I look at you. I am completely yours, my love. I have been for months now, possibly since I met you.” 

She moved over to sit on his lap, needing to get closer to him. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her tight to his body. They sat under the twinkle lights and continued to kiss, before Macy pulled back. “We should eat some of these strawberries. They look delicious.” 

He picked up a strawberry and held it out for her to take a bite. He watched as her lips closed around it. He leaned in to kiss the juice from her lips. 

She smiled and laughed brightly. “Are you really feeding me strawberries like we’re in some cheesy romantic comedy?” 

“Yes, I am,” he said, laughing. “Are you going to complain about it?” 

“Not at all,” she said, picking up a strawberry to feed him. She leaned in and kissed him. “I just never expected you to be such a hopeless romantic. You continue to surprise me.” 

“Good, that was the goal,” he said, resting his forehead against her shoulder. “Champagne?” 

“We had wine at dinner and now, you want us to have champagne. You’re not going to tell me we can’t have sex later because we might be too drunk, are you? Because I really, really don’t want to wait anymore.” 

“Macy, unless you tell me you don’t want to have sex, there is nothing in this world that could stop me from taking you to bed and ravishing you tonight.” 

“Good, then yes, I would love a glass of champagne.” 

They continued to sit there, eat strawberries, and drink champagne in between lazy kisses with each other. As the night progressed, their kisses lasted longer. His hands trailed along her body, lingering along her curves. 

“Harry,” she sighed. While she still had full control of her faculties, the combination of wine and champagne had her starting to feel just pleasantly tipsy. “We should really take this inside.” 

“Mm, not yet,” he said, kissing along her neck. “I want at least one dance with you.” 

“Fine,” she said, laughing. She moved to stand up. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened her Spotify app. She pulled up one of her favorite songs and hit play. She turned to Harry and put her hand out for him to follow her to the yard. 

_ “Words, thought they’d just fade away…”  _

He put his hand around her waist, his hand resting on the small of her back. She placed her hand against his back and rested her cheek against his, her body pressed against his until there was not even a breath of space between them. They swayed back and forth to the music. 

“ _ Every time I breathe, every time I’m dreaming in my bed…”  _

“Why did you pick this song?” Harry asked softly. 

“I first heard this after I thought you had slept with Abby,” she explained. “And it made me think of you and how much I wanted you back. I can’t hear it without thinking of you.” 

They stopped moving and stared into each other’s eyes. They both leaned in, meeting in a gentle kiss. As the music faded away, they remained there, gradually growing more furious in their desire for each other. 

He started to push her wrap off her shoulder to kiss along her collarbone. “Mm, Harry, we need to take this upstairs. I wouldn’t put it past Maggie and the others to still be watching us,” she said, laughing.

He instantly orbed them to her bedroom. “This better?” he asked, pushing her wrap off her shoulders.

“Much,” she said, smiling at him. She looked over to her vanity and saw the vase of her wildflowers. A privacy candle sat in front of it with a propped up note. “What is this?” She walked over to read it, rolling her eyes once she finished it.

“What is it?” Harry asked, wrapping his arms around her from behind and continuing to kiss along the curve of her neck. 

“It’s from Maggie and Mel. ‘ _ Dear Hacy, keep this privacy candle on hand for the future. You won’t need it tonight. Mel’s spending the night at Ruby’s. Maggie’s going to Jordan’s. Just wanted to make sure you have this for tomorrow night _ .’ We cannot possibly be that loud,” she said, scoffing. 

“You are pretty loud and then when you add in the furniture moving,” he laughed. “But like I told you, it’s incredibly sexy. It sounds like we’ve got the house to ourselves tonight, though. Let’s just enjoy that and not worry about your sisters.”

“Absolutely,” Macy said, capturing his lips with hers again. She began to unbutton his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders. 

He grabbed the bottom of her camisole and pulled it over her head, walking her backwards to the bed. She quickly unfastened his belt. He kicked off his shoes and finished undoing his pants. He reached out to pull her pants off, leaving both of them in their underwear. 

She leaned down against the pillows, pulling him down with her. “Mm, wait, I was going to put on one of my silk nightgowns when we had sex again,” she said.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I don’t really want you to put more clothes on right now,” he said, unfastening her bra and kissing down her stomach. “That’s not really the goal here.” 

“Fair enough,” she sighed, pushing down his underwear as he moved his lips back up her body. “But I look really good in them, just so you know.” 

He laid down next to her and pulled her onto her side facing him, their bodies pressed against each other. “Macy, you would look beautiful in a paper bag.” He pushed her hair behind her ear. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” 

She smiled shyly and leaned in to kiss him, almost hesitantly. “I don’t know why I’m nervous. It’s not like this is our first time,” she said, softly.

“It’s okay, love,” he said, brushing his hand down her side, trying to commit to memory every curve of her body. “I’m nervous, too. Let’s just focus on enjoying each other, because I know I have been waiting for this since about five minutes after we did this the first time.” 

She threw her head back, laughing. “Me too.” She moved just slightly, so his erection was pressing against her center. She looked him in the eye. “Now, I believe you said something about ravishing me.” 

He pushed her onto her back and propped himself up on his elbow. “That I did, my love.” He trailed his hands and his lips along her body. He focused his attention first on one breast, than on the other. She wrapped her legs around his waist, trying to pull him closer to the spot where she wanted him the most. 

“Harry,” she sighed, running her hands along his torso. “We’ve established you’re a master of foreplay. Please, I need you.” 

“And we’ll get there,” he said, laughing. “But I want to see how many times I can make you fall apart tonight.” 

He reached down between her legs, finding her soaking in anticipation. He slowly inserted one finger, flicking his thumb across her clit. She moaned softly. 

“I’d say this was torture, but it feels too good for that,” she breathed out. “Just keep going, please. I’m already so close.” 

He thrust another finger inside her, then added a third. He watched as she pushed herself down against his hand, trying to get his fingers to hit the spot she needed. He crooked his middle finger and pressed his thumb against her clit. She dug her nails into his back and gasped, screaming his name. 

“Harry, right there,” she gasped. “Oh god, babe.” As he felt her walls fluttering around his hand, he moved down her body to replace his fingers with his tongue. He continued to alternate between her clit and her opening. 

She pressed herself into his face, dying to get him closer. She felt another wave of orgasm approaching. As she went over the edge and came back down, she pulled for him to come back up and kiss her. “Please, Harry,” she begged. “Can I please have you inside of me now?” 

He moved back up the bed, laying his body over hers. “You’re going to have to be more specific, love,” he said, leaving soft bites along her collarbone. “You’ve had my fingers. You’ve had my tongue. What do you want next?” 

She pushed him over onto his back and straddled his waist, looking him in the eyes. Her pupils were blown wide with desire. Her face flushed, her chest covered in a sheen of sweat. “You know exactly what I want, Harry. It’s what I’ve wanted for months now.” 

He smirked at her. “I’ve wanted a lot of things with you for months now, so narrow it down just a little bit,” he said, thrusting up against her. 

“Oh for the love,” she sighed. “I need you to fuck me. Not with your tongue. Not with your fingers.” She grabbed his hardened cock and positioned it against her opening, sinking down onto it slowly. She paused for a second, adjusting to the feeling of him inside of her. 

She started to move against him, slowly at first. He groaned and threw his head back, arching up into her. “Macy, love, you feel even better than I remember,” he said, desperately trying to keep control. He wasn’t ready for their night to end yet. There was still so much more he wanted to do with her. 

He dug his fingers into her hips, pulling her down against him as he thrust upwards. She continued to move up and down around him. As she moved more furiously against him, he watched as her breasts bounced in rhythm with her movement. He reached out and pressed his finger against her clit in the way he had come to realize would almost instantly send her over the edge. 

He felt her walls spasming around him and she fell apart for a third time. He looked down and realized the bed was levitating just slightly off the floor. “Macy, careful, we don’t want to break the bed,” he said, pushing up into her. 

“Yeah, I so don’t care about that right now,” she said, trying to catch her breath. She leaned back down, pressing herself against his chest. 

He rolled them over, pushing her back into the mattress. “I’m so close, love,” he said, thrusting into her. “I want to make you come one more time before I finish, though.” 

She laughed, still trying to catch her breath. “Jesus, Harry,” she said. “I need to be able to walk tomorrow.”

He started to thrust into her more frantically, struggling to maintain his control. “You forget that I can heal you.” 

“Oh, shit, that’s right,” she gasped, trying to meet his pace. “Then keep going.”

He continued to push into her frantically, no longer able to pay attention to maintaining any sort of rhythm. He just moved against her, trying to get to his climax. As she felt him spill into her, he pressed deeper into her and she hit her wall for the fourth time that night. 

Both soaked in sweat and gasping for breath, he rolled off of her and fell back into the pillows. “God, I love you,” he said, moving onto his side so he could pull her in for a kiss. Their tongues tangled frantically, his body molded against hers

Finally, they broke apart. She put her head against his chest as he pulled his arms tight around her. She could feel his heart about to pound out of his chest. “That was amazing,” she said. 

“Yeah?” he said, slowly regaining control of his heart rate and breath again. 

“Yeah,” she said, leaning up to kiss him softly. “But you are definitely going to have to heal me in the morning.” 

He chuckled softly. “Sorry, love. I may have been a bit overeager.”

She looked at him, raising one eyebrow. “Are you seriously apologizing for making me come four times? Seriously?” 

“I guess not,” he said, leaning in to kiss her once more. “So, good first date?” he smiled at her. 

“Best first date ever,” she said, cradling his face in her hand. “I love you so much, Harry.” 

“Oh, Macy,” he said, turning to kiss her palm. “I love you, too. So much.” They fell asleep, wrapped in each other’s arms, fully satiated and with smiles on their faces. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all I've got for now. I'll be back on Sunday with the final chapter of the story, just in time for the season 3 premiere. Any comments are very much appreciated. I can't say enough how much joy it brings me to find out people are enjoying this story.


	20. Chapter Twenty: Unsafe Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Charmed Ones and Harry look to Celeste and Jimmy for help in their fight against the Faction. Maggie and Jordan's relationship escalates. Mel finds out a secret about Ruby. Celeste offers a solution to the Darklighter problem. Harry has a potentially life-changing chat by the fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we've arrived at the end of the road and just in time for tonight's season premiere. I'm going to get straight into the story this week. A much longer note is at the bottom.
> 
> Some dialogue borrowed from 2x19: Unsafe Space

Macy woke up in the middle of the night, slightly cold, despite the warmth emanating from Harry’s body. She had never been a big fan of sleeping naked. It made her feel too vulnerable. She always worried about what would happen if there was a fire or someone broke into her room. She slowly moved out from under his arm and stood up, walking over to her closet. 

“Mm, Macy, what are you doing?” Harry asked, easily roused from sleep. 

“Sorry, I was cold,” she said, pulling on a burgundy negligee. 

He propped himself up on his elbow, raising his eyebrow and smirking at her. “That hardly seems like the warmest thing you own. And surely, there is another way I could warm you up.” 

She laughed and walked back over to him. “I didn’t say I was freezing. I just feel more comfortable sleeping with something on.” She laid down next to him, mirroring his pose. 

He reached out and ran his hand along her silk-covered side. “This isn’t what you normally wear to bed.” 

“Well, this isn’t a normal night, now is it?” She looked at him and bit her lip shyly. “Do you like it?”

“You look gorgeous, love,” he said, pulling her flush against his body. She felt his erection beginning to rouse against her center. “And I know you just put that on, but I would really like to take it back off of you.” 

She laughed and rolled her eyes as she felt his hands at the bottom of the hem, pushing it back up her body. “Harry, we need to sleep at some point tonight.”

“We were sleeping. And we’ll sleep again,” he said, kissing along her collarbone. “But I’m wide awake now.”

“Mm, you certainly are,” she laughed as he pushed her down against the mattress. “Guess we’ll just have to work off some of that energy, won’t we?” 

He felt her quickly becoming more wet for him. He pulled her up just enough that he could divest her of the nightgown as he kissed her deeply. “It hardly seems like I’m the only one ready for more,” he said, reaching down to caress her center. He inserted one finger, quickly followed by a second, wanting to make sure she was ready for him. 

She pulled his hand back up. “Please, Harry. I just want you.” 

“I just want to make sure I don’t hurt you,” he said, biting softly along the crook of her neck. 

“You won’t,” she gasped, reaching for his erection and lining him up against her. “I need you.” 

He slowly pushed into her, giving her a moment to adjust to him. Where their pace earlier had been frenzied and desperate, there was no rush this time. He languidly moved in and out of her. His hands roamed across her body, searching for the spots that made her sigh with satisfaction. She ran her nails down his back, grabbing his ass and pushing him deeper into her. As she reached her climax, he quickly followed her over the edge, falling against her body. He kissed along her neck and rolled himself off of her. 

She curled up along the side of his body and kissed him softly, running her fingers through his hair. 

“You feel amazing,” he said, sighing. “God, I’m so in love with you.”

She smiled. “I still can’t believe this is really happening. I keep waiting to wake up and find that it’s all been a dream.”

“I know,” he said, brushing her hair behind her ear and running his hand along her jaw. “I’ve wanted this with you for so long.” She stared into his eyes and then yawned. He laughed softly. “Come on, love. Let’s go back to sleep.” 

“Harry?” she asked softly.

“Yes?”

“If I wanted to put my nightgown back on, are you going to try to take it off of me again and start this all over? Because I really just don’t like sleeping naked. And I am so tired.” 

He chuckled and reached over to pick up the nightgown. “It’s okay, love. Whatever makes you comfortable.” As soon as she was dressed again, he pulled her back down against him. She put her head down against his chest and they quickly fell back asleep. 

The two woke up the next morning to the sun streaming in through the windows. Harry reached out and ran his fingers through Macy’s hair. She smiled and leaned in for a gentle kiss. 

“So I didn’t dream last night?” he asked. 

She laughed softly. “No, Harry. It was completely real,” she said as she started to stretch. 

Harry watched as her lithe body unfurled from its curled up position against his side. Her face scrunched as a slight twinge of pain between her legs made itself known. He instantly became concerned. “Macy?” he asked. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said, not wanting to worry him. “Just, can I take you up on that offer to heal me? I’m a little bit sore.” 

His brows furrowed with worry. “Oh, love, I’m sorry.” He reached out and pressed his hand against her center, focusing on healing her sore muscles. “I got a little carried away, I guess.”

She ran her fingers through his hair and looked into his eyes. “Harry, it’s fine. I promise. See, all better now,” she said, leaning into him and pushing him down into the mattress. She straddled his waist and leaned down to kiss him. “It doesn’t sound like anyone else is home yet, so we probably have a little more time to ourselves.”

He laughed brightly. “Oh, really? Don’t we have to go and save the world?”

“Well, we can’t do that without the Power of Three, so we’ll have to wait for Maggie and Mel anyway. Looks like we have some time to kill,” she said, kissing along the curve of his neck. 

“We could be getting ready for the day. Starting to craft a plan to defeat the Faction,” he jokingly argued. 

She pressed herself down against him, smirking as she felt him hardening against her. “Well, if you really think we need to be doing something else, I guess I’ll just go get dressed.” She climbed off the bed and started to walk over to her closet. 

He jumped out of bed and reached for her hand, pulling her back against him. “You know, on second thought, I think you’re right. Besides, we really do need your sisters in order to come up with a plan.” He picked her up and set her on her vanity. 

She spread her legs wider and pulled him tight to her. “Exactly. I knew you’d come around to my point of view,” she said, reaching for his erection. 

He moaned softly as she began to work her hand up and down his shaft. “Love, please, you’re killing me here.” He leaned in and kissed her furiously as he pulled her closer to him. 

She threw her head back and gasped as he pushed into her. “Oh god, Harry.” The vanity banged against the wall as he continued to thrust in and out of her. 

He reached between the two, caressing her clit to push her over the edge quickly. She spasmed and screamed out his name as he quickly followed her. They both tried to catch their breath as they heard a loud rap on the door. 

“If you two are done, we have the Faction to defeat and there’s been developments,” Mel yelled from the other side. 

The two stared at each other before bursting into laughter. “Guess we’re not so alone anymore,” Macy said, leaning in to kiss Harry once more. 

“I should be mortified right now, but I can’t find it in me to care,” he said, giving her one more soft kiss. “But she is right. We need to go find out what’s going on.” 

“Pick up where we left off later tonight?” she asked, shyly.

“And every night after that,” he said, pressing his forehead to hers before stepping back, squeezing her hand once before letting go. 

The two quickly got dressed and went downstairs, walking into the kitchen hand in hand. Maggie, Jordan, and Mel sat at the table, drinking coffee. 

Maggie smirked at them as they walked in. “So...good night?” she asked, raising her eyebrow. “And good morning, apparently?” 

Harry instantly turned bright red. “Yes, well, we weren’t aware anyone had returned home.” He cleared his throat and poured coffee for him and Macy. “It was mentioned there were developments.”

Maggie pulled out her phone and handed it to Macy. “New security cameras are being installed at SafeSpace today. And look what’s with them.”

Macy tensed up, instantly recognizing the devices. “Magic detectors. They’re looking for us.” 

Mel stood up, grabbing a roll of blueprints for SafeSpace. She unfurled them across the table. “They’ve cleared the place out. They’re continuing the digging,” she said, pointing out the rooms where they were digging, which included the area where the Command Center lay. 

“So, they’re not just looking for the three of you,” Jordan offered.

Harry sighed. “The Sacred Tree.” 

“Julian’s underground farming project was all just a ruse to get the black amber,” Macy said, crossing her arms. “I can’t believe I didn’t see through him earlier.”

Harry put his arm around her and kissed her temple. “It’s not your fault, love. None of us could have guessed this. But if they plow through the Command Center, find the Sacred Tree, gain access to the most powerful substances on Earth, the results could be cataclysmic.”

“So, what do we do?” Maggie asked. “We can’t get anywhere near SafeSpace right now.” 

“There’s only one person we know who can help us right now. Only one person who has been on the inside and can offer us any sort of insight,” Harry said, looking at Macy. “We have to let Jimmy out of the bottle.”

Macy’s eyes got wide. “Harry, no. It’s too dangerous. If he’s out, you’re in constant danger.”

“He knows everything we need to know right now. Their plans, their endgame. He’s our most valuable asset at this moment in time,” he said, holding Macy’s hands between his own. “Love, neither of us like this, but we are out of options.” 

“Mace, you don’t have to be there when we let him out,” Maggie said. “You can stay here and we’ll make sure nothing goes wrong.” 

“How do you even propose getting him out?” Macy said, frustrated. “We don’t have the talisman to open the bottle and he’s still in the cabinet at the Command Center.” 

“We just have to take it one step at a time,” Harry said, stepping back. He put his arm up to prepare to orb.

“Where are you going?” Macy asked, confused.

“Mykonos. Celeste might have some guidance for us,” he said, orbing out of the room. 

Macy sighed and glared at her sisters. “We have to have an option other than Jimmy.” 

“I don’t know that we do, Mace,” Mel said. “We’ll get him back in the bottle as soon as we possibly can.”

Within a few minutes, Harry was back with Celeste. He ushered her into the living room before going back into the kitchen with Macy to prepare some tea. “Are you okay, love?” he asked her, putting his arms around her.

“I want to be. Logically, I know Jimmy is our best bet at getting answers. It’s just the thought of him coming out of that bottle. Of possibly having to face him again. It’s terrifying,” she said, sinking into his embrace.

“You don’t have to be in the same room as him, I promise,” he said.

“No, if we’re going to get answers from him, I want to be there for it. I have to overcome my fear of him at some point. Especially if there’s even the slightest possibility the two of you are going to merge,” she sighed.

“Macy, we haven’t made any decisions about that yet,” he said, his brow furrowed.

“I know, but we can’t keep putting off that decision. What are we going to do? Just leave him in the bottle forever?” she said.

“I suppose you’re right,” he sighed. “First things first, though, we have to get rid of the Faction.”

They walked back into the living room with the tea kettle. Celeste looked at the two, her eyebrow raised disapprovingly. “I was just getting settled in on Mykonos.” 

“Yeah, well, the Faction had other plans,” Mel said. “So, the Darklighter’s jar.” 

Celeste nodded, indicating she should continue. 

“We don’t have the talisman,” Maggie explained. “Is there another way to-”

“To open it, of course,” Celeste said, cutting her off. “I created a skeleton key, as a bit of a failsafe.” 

Harry sighed in relief. “Great, where is it?”

“Oh, well I don’t have it on me,” Celeste said. “I left it in a safe and secure place, though.”

Mel nodded. “And that would be where?” 

“The Castle Breithe,” she said, smiling smugly.

Macy’s face fell. “The place where you created Whitelighters and Darklighters?”

Celeste nodded. Macy looked at Harry hesitantly. He stared ahead, resolutely. “Right, well we have no time to waste,” he said, standing up, and offering his arm to Celeste.

Macy stood up, startled. “Harry, do you really think you should be the one going? Are you ready to go back there?” 

His gaze softened. “Macy, I’ll be fine. I promise. I’ll see you when I get back, love.” He leaned in and kissed her quickly, ignoring Celeste’s pointed glare.

“In the meantime, you ladies should retrieve the bottle from the Command Center,” Celeste said, glaring at Macy. 

Maggie nodded. “Yeah, about that. Small to medium to okay, gigantic problem. We don’t have a marble to portal.”

“And SafeSpace isn’t safe anymore,” Mel said.

“That’s not a big problem. You just need to find another witch who has been through Witchness Protection,” Celeste said, archly. “Under normal circumstances, each witch who’s gone through the program was given a marble, which she would use if and when she ever wanted to return to active service. Just find a witch and have her bring you through.”

Mel nodded. “Great, so just go around and question random people hoping they’re a witch who’s gone into hiding. That should be no problem.”

“Oh, honestly,” Celeste said, rolling her eyes. “You just need the Internet. They have a subreddit. They’re all fans of some mid-aughts witch show. They meet up frequently.”

“We’ll be back soon,” Harry promised, squeezing Macy’s hand before orbing out of the room with Celeste.

“Do you want me to go over to SafeSpace? See if I can find out anything more?” Jordan asked. 

“No, you were with us at the gala. They know you’re connected to us,” Maggie said. “We just need to find a witch and get that marble.”

Mel looked up from her phone. “Found them. They’re having a meetup tonight at Sleet. We just have to chill until 7.” 

“Okay, then I’m going to head home. I’ve got some work to do for school. Call me if you need anything,” Jordan said. “Anything at all.” 

“I will,” Maggie said, kissing him quickly. “I’ll see you later.” 

Jordan left, leaving the three sisters alone. Mel and Maggie turned to look at Macy. “What?” Macy asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Oh come on, Mace,” Maggie said, rolling her eyes. “We want details. Tell us everything that happened last night.”

“Maybe not everything,” Mel offered. “But yeah, we want to know how your date went.” 

Macy smiled, biting her lip. She sat down on the couch between her sisters and collapsed against the back, looking up at the ceiling. “It was perfect. I mean, it was simple and romantic and cheesy in ways I never thought I would like, but it was amazing.”

“So? What did you guys do?” Maggie asked, excitedly. “We left pretty much as soon as you two went out there. We wanted to give you some privacy.”

“Thank you for that,” Macy said. “I mean, we just talked. We kissed. We fed each other chocolate-covered strawberries and drank champagne. Then we danced under the stars and the fairy lights.” She laughed to herself. “If you had described that date to me, I would have said it was the stupidest, cheesiest thing I could have imagined, but Harry made it perfect. I can’t imagine something that felt more right.” 

Maggie squealed with delight and hugged her sister. “I am just so fucking happy for the two of you.” 

“So, no more running?” Mel asked. “No more worrying about how this will affect Maggie and me?” 

“I mean, I still worry about everything constantly,” Macy agreed. “I still worry something will happen, that things will turn sour, and it’ll upend our team. But I’m not running from this anymore. Everything feels right when we’re together. I don’t know how else to explain it. It’s like I’ve found my person.” 

“I get that,” Mel said, nodding. “That’s how I felt when I was with Niko. Like my world had been chaos, but when I was with her, things were calm. But I have way more confidence that your story with Harry will have a happier ending than mine and Niko’s did.” 

“I’m sorry, Mel,” Macy said, grabbing her sister’s hand. “I know you miss her. Things are good with Ruby, though, right?”

Mel nodded. “Yeah, Ruby is great. Things are light and fun. By the end with Niko, everything was so heavy and foreboding. I don’t know that Ruby is my forever, but we’re having fun together for now. Anyway, we were talking about you and Harry.”

“I mean, there’s not much else to tell. We just spent the rest of the evening dancing,” Macy shrugged. 

Maggie rolled her eyes. “And when you left the backyard? And don’t even try to deny anything. We know what we heard when we came home this morning.”

Macy blushed. “Oh yeah, I guess there was a little more to my night,” she joked. 

“And?” Maggie gestured for her to continue speaking. “How was it?” 

Macy stared off into space for a moment, as if she were reliving the memories of the night before. “It was completely mind blowing.” 

“That’s all you’re going to give us,” Maggie said, jokingly irritated. “Seriously?” 

“I mean, what do you want me to say?” Macy said, awkwardly. “That I had no idea sex could be that amazing? That I didn’t know I was physically capable of coming four times that quickly? That I almost broke the bed because I lost control of my powers and it started levitating? That I was so sore this morning Harry had to heal me just so I could get out of bed?” 

Maggie blinked slowly before laughing. “Yes, to all of that. I told you that you would get better at girl talk, Macy. I don’t need a play-by-play, but these are the kinds of things sisters talk about. I just want you to know you can talk to us about this because sometimes I’m going to need to talk to you about my sex life, so it can’t just be a one-sided thing.” 

“Okay,” Macy said, smiling. “Well, yeah, it was great and all I can think about now is when we can do it again.” 

“Yeah, that’s the best part about the beginning of the relationship,” Maggie said, knowingly. “Everything leads to sex.” Her phone chimed with an incoming text. She looked down and the color drained from her face. “Oh, shit.” 

“What?” Mel asked, concerned. “What is it?”

“Jordan. He thinks Julian might have someone watching his apartment. There was a car parked outside his building this morning and a guy has been sitting in it the whole time Jordan has been home. He doesn’t want to call in case they’re bugging his place.” 

“Tell him to grab what he needs for a few days and then come back here,” Macy said. “He’ll be safe here.” 

“Just make sure he’s careful coming back here,” Mel argued. “We don’t want him to lead them directly here.” 

Maggie nodded and texted him back. “Okay, he’ll be here in half an hour or so. Oh god, am I living with Jordan now? We haven’t been together long enough for that. What if he decides I’m too immature and irritating to be around all the time?”

“Mags, breathe,” Mel said. “This isn’t a forever thing. It’s just until we defeat the Faction.”

“And we can set him up in the attic,” Macy offered. “I already talked to Harry about moving his stuff into my room. That way, you guys can each have your own space. And besides, you love Jordan, right?”

Maggie smiled shyly. “Yeah, I really do. I mean, Parker is always going to be my first love. He was the first person I ever said I love you to, and who said it back to me. But our relationship never would have lasted. He needed to save me and I needed him to see that I was strong without him. He made me feel weak. And it wasn’t something he was trying to do, necessarily. He just needed to be someone’s hero.” 

“And how does Jordan make you feel?” Macy asked. 

“He makes me feel like I can be my own hero,” Maggie explained. “He makes me feel strong. I know I don’t need him in order to survive, but I want him by my side every day. I like that he chooses to be a part of my life, that he chooses to let me be a part of his. He makes me feel powerful and loved. He makes me laugh without trying. And the sex is the best I’ve ever had. I mean, really.” 

“Jordan’s good for you, Mags,” Mel agreed. “You’re so much more confident, even though I’m not giving Jordan the credit for that. You’ve done a lot of work on yourself this year. You’re really finding who you are as a woman and it’s kind of amazing to watch. You’re not my baby sister anymore. You’re this incredible woman now.” 

Maggie smiled. Unshed tears glistened in her eyes. “Okay, we need to change the subject because I don’t want to be a crying mess when Jordan gets here.” 

“Start watching Dirty Little Witches?” Mel asked, grimacing. “We need to at least know a little bit about it if we’re going to convince anyone to help us at this thing tonight.” 

Macy found the show on Netflix and started the first episode. Jordan walked in the house about 20 minutes later, a gray hoodie pulled over his head and large sunglasses on. 

Maggie got up and gave him a hug. “You okay? Did anyone follow you?” 

Jordan shook his head. “I don’t think so. There’s a loading dock area in the basement of my building. I went out there instead of the front door. I took the long way to get here, thinking I could trip them up. I didn’t notice anyone following me, at least.” He had only brought a couple duffel bags with him. “I tried to pack light, but I didn’t know how long I’d be here. Thank you for letting me crash here.”

“Of course, Jordan,” Macy reassured him. “You’re part of the team. We keep each other safe.” 

He smiled at the inclusion of him in their team. He loved working with Harry and the Charmed Ones, but it was nice to hear they felt the same way about him. 

“I’ll help you take your stuff upstairs,” Maggie said, grabbing one of his bags and heading for the stairs. Jordan followed her as the older sisters realized they needed a moment together. 

The couple stopped at the top of the landing. Maggie paused outside of her bedroom door and looked nervously towards the attic door, then back at Jordan. “Do you want to stay in my room with me? Or if you want, you can have the attic? Harry basically moved in with Macy now, so it’s up for grabs. And I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay with me, unless you want to.” 

Jordan grabbed her hand, his brow furrowed. “Maggie, what’s wrong? Just talk to me. Why are you so nervous?” 

“I mean, we’re basically living together. We don't know how long it's going to defeat the Faction, so I worry you're going to get tired of me and it's going to completely destroy our relationship. I’ve never lived with a guy, so I don’t really know what to do,” she looked at him, embarrassed. “And maybe I’m freaking out a little bit.” 

He put his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. “It’s fine. No, we haven’t been together for very long. And no, if it weren’t for the Faction of it all, we wouldn’t be having this discussion yet. But I love you, Maggie. That much I do know. So, if you’re okay with it, I figured I would stay in your room with you. And once the Faction is gone, I'll go back to my own place until we're ready to have a discussion about anything more. For right now, I’m just here on an extended sleepover with my girlfriend. Is that cool with you?”

She nodded, relieved. “I love you, too, Jordan. Now come on, we’re having a marathon of Dirty Little Witches.” 

“Not how I thought I’d be spending my day, but I’ll take it,” he said, laughing. 

* * *

Harry and Celeste landed in the Castle Breithe among the rubble. Where shelves once stood filled with bottles and other various artifacts, they had all fallen askew. Pillars lay on their sides, covering the contents of the shelves. 

“It’s a proverbial skeleton key in a rubble stack,” Celeste sighed, moving towards one of the piles and reaching down to sort through it.

Harry stood frozen, looking over at the altar table he remembered was the spot where he had been split into two. He had been here before. He had hoped the shock would have worn off and he would have been able to go about his task. 

“Harry?” the Elder asked with a surprising amount of sympathy. “You can orb yourself out of here and I’ll keep looking for the key. I’ll let you know when I’ve found it.” 

“No, I can do this,” he said, shaking his head as if he were trying to physically knock the negative thoughts out of his head. “What are we looking for?”

“I hid the key in an ancient Babylonian idol,” she said, picking up an artifact and looking at it. “It looks like it may take us a while to find it. We’ll have plenty of time to talk then.”

Harry leaned down and picked up an item. “Hmm, this one looks more Neo-Assyrian than Babylonian. And what would we need to talk about?” he asked, distractedly.

“You and Macy,” she said, seriously. She paused and crossed her arms. 

“What about me and Macy?” he said, with an edge to his voice communicating his displeasure with her topic of conversation. 

“It is plain as day, Harry,” she said, sternly. “The way you two look at each other. You know it’s forbidden.”

He turned to her quickly. “Yes, by the Elders, who are no longer around. Thus, not forbidden anymore.” 

“I won’t deny that we made a lot of bad rules,” she offered. “But that one was a keeper. Your relationship with her compromises your ability to serve and protect the Charmed Ones as a whole.”

“No, we’re not talking about this,” he said, shutting her down. “Firstly, I would never put my own needs ahead of theirs. My entire purpose in life is to protect those women. And truthfully, I’ve been at least a little in love with Macy nearly the entire time I have known her. While I don’t feel romantic love for Mel or Maggie, my love for them is nearly as strong as what I feel for Macy. Those women are my family. They are the reason I get out of bed every morning. And maybe it’s not something the Elders would approve of, but frankly, I don’t give a damn. What we have works for us. And if you think I would give that up for some archaic rule made by a body of women who treated me like shit for years, you are insane.” 

“Harry, your judgement has been compromised before,” Celeste reminded him.

“What? With Charity?” he scoffed. “I will be the first to admit that was a mistake, but I learned from that. And what I felt for Charity is absolutely nothing compared to what I feel for Macy. Not to mention, Macy is a much better person than Charity ever could have dreamed to be. Charity was ruthless and power-hungry. I let myself be manipulated by her because I thought that was all I deserved. Macy is loving. Her heart is pure. She makes me want to be a better man, the kind of man that deserves her love.” 

“Harry, if the Charmed Ones get destroyed, that could spell the end of the world,” Celeste said, trying for a gentler touch. “While I’ve been in Mykonos, I’ve been keeping tabs on the Faction’s activities as best I can. And I think Julian may be the second coming of the Conqueror.”

His face paled. “The Conqueror? But I thought that was nothing more than an old fairy tale?”

“It’s not,” Celeste argued. “The first Charmed Ones stood up against the original Conqueror. He was trying to steal magic for himself. They used the Power of Three to prevent the destruction of the magical world, but Harry, now is not a time where we need any of the Charmed Ones to be distracted.” 

“And so what, you think that breaking up with Macy would lead to us being completely clear headed and focused on our mission?” he asked, incredulously. “No, I stopped caring what the Elders thought of me long ago. You have never understood that the witches and whitelighters you govern are still people, who have a purpose beyond doing the bidding of the Elders. Who have the right to happiness and fulfillment. So, I recognize your concern and it’s noted, but it is absolutely not appreciated.”

She sighed, realizing she was not going to get anywhere with him. Perhaps she might be able to get somewhere with the eldest Charmed One. They needed to understand the severity of their actions. 

He pulled a bottle out of the wreckage. “Hang on a moment. This one looks Babylonian,” he said, gruffly, bringing the Elder the bottle. She nodded and opened the bottom of the bottle revealing the skeleton key inside. 

* * *

The sisters and Jordan spent the rest of the day watching Dirty Little Witches. Jordan decided to stay back at the manor that evening, citing his need to work on schoolwork he had been neglecting for some time. Besides, that night’s meet-up seemed like it was mainly for women and he didn’t want to ruin their chances of finding someone to help them. 

The sisters approached the nightclub, nervously. Macy had been quizzing the sisters on different facts, names of characters, major plot arcs. She had been studying the show’s Wikipedia, trying to commit it to memory. This was something completely out of her comfort zone, so she was trying to turn it into a school assignment, something that at least made sense to her. 

They made it past the bouncer and walked inside. “Okay, so we just walk up to a complete stranger and make conversation,” Macy said, slightly panicked. “That sounds like something I can absolutely do.” 

Mel looked around, her eyes widening as they fell on one person in particular. “Maybe not everyone here is a complete stranger.” 

“Holy shit, Ruby?” Maggie gasped. 

Mel motioned for her sisters to stay put as she walked over to her sort-of girlfriend. “Ruby?” she said, nervously getting her attention. “Are you a witch?”

“Shit, Mel,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m a big fan of the show,” Mel joked. “And I’m also a witch. Heard this was the place to be. Ruby, what is going on? How did I not know you’re a witch?”

Ruby laughed nervously. “Probably for the same reason I didn’t know you were one. It’s not exactly something you can easily bring up with someone, but it explains why it’s so easy for me to talk to you.” 

Mel sat down at the table next to her. “I’ll tell you my story if you tell me yours.” 

Ruby nodded. “Okay, so, single mom. My dad died before I was born. My mom always told me I was special. She never hid anything from me.” 

“But how did you end up in Witchness Protection?” Mel asked, confused. “It sounds like your mom was really supportive.”

“When I was 16, Mom started dating this new guy,” Ruby said, looking away, nervous to share this part of her story. “She had no idea he was a demon. He almost killed us. Mom wanted out, to put everything about magic behind her. When I turned 18, she said it was my choice and she would support me either way. I just wanted a normal life. Magic nearly took everything from me, so it was a pretty easy choice.” She smiled at Mel, now relieved to share her story. “That must have been why I was so drawn to you. We want the same things.” 

Mel cringed, not wanting to let Ruby down. She looked back at her sisters before facing Ruby again. “Not exactly. So, my sisters and I aren’t exactly looking to retire from our witch life. We’re the Charmed Ones. We’re in trouble and you might be the only person who can help us.” 

Ruby tensed up and pulled her hand back from Mel’s. “No, Mel, I’m sorry. No one here wants to get involved with magic again, least of all me,” she said.

“I don’t need you to get involved,” Mel said, trying to reassure her. “Look, when you came through Witchness Protection, did the Whitelighter give you an amber marble?” 

Ruby nodded, confused. “Yeah, in case I ever wanted to come back.”

Mel sighed in relief. “Ruby, I need to borrow that marble.” 

Ruby glared at her, desperately wanting to stay away from everything to do with magic, but also wanting to help her girlfriend. 

Mel sensed her hesitation. “Finding out I was a witch, it saved me. It gave me purpose. Isn’t there any part of you that-?

Ruby looked at her sharply. “No, there isn’t.” She opened her purse and pulled out a small felt bag. She handed the marble to Mel. 

“You keep it on you?” Mel said, smiling.

Ruby nodded, her lips pursed tightly. “Mom always said I should. That I might never know when I needed it, but I never have. Good luck with everything,” she said, kissing Mel on the cheek and walking away. 

Mel went back over to her sisters. “Long story, we don’t have time to get into it and it’s not mine to tell,” she said, instantly shutting down all of their questions. “Now, let’s go.” 

They hurriedly walked home and went up to the attic. “Alright, you ready for this?” Mel asked. The sisters nodded as she threw the marble in front of her. The portal opened and Macy instantly jumped through. Once Macy was through, the portal shrunk in size by half. The other sisters looked at each other.

“That was weird,” Maggie said.

“I know,” Mel agreed. “Just hurry. It’s closing.” 

Maggie nodded and jumped through next. As Mel prepared to follow her, the portal closed and the marble dropped to the floor. She walked over and picked it up. Her eyes got wide as she took a close look at it. “Oh, fuck,” she said. 

She took the marble over to Macy’s microscope and looked at it, just barely able to make out the shapes of her sisters sitting inside the marble. “Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck,” she said, starting to freak out. 

Jordan walked up to the attic, having heard the sister’s movements. “Hey, how’d it go?” he asked. He stopped as he noticed Mel pacing and wringing her hands. “Whoa, what happened?”

“Macy and Maggie are in the marble,” she said. 

“What do you mean?” he asked, confused. 

“I mean, Macy and Maggie are in the fucking marble,” she said, panicking. She pulled Jordan over to the microscope. “Just look.” 

He leaned in, able to see his girlfriend and her sister sitting inside, waving their hands at him. “How do we get them out of the marble?” he asked, panicking. 

“I don’t know,” Mel yelled. “If I knew, then I wouldn’t be panicking right now.”

Just as Mel was about to call for Harry’s help, he and Celeste orbed back into the attic with the skeleton key. He paused, taking in the frantic expressions on Mel and Jordan’s faces. 

“What’s wrong?” Harry asked. 

“We found a witch who gave us her marble, but when we threw it, Macy and Maggie got stuck inside it,” Mel said, her words running together to the point Harry had difficulty understanding her.

“Well, where’s the witch?” Celeste asked, looking around.

“She’s still at the bar,” Mel said. 

Celeste sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. “You need to have the witch with you in order to get through the portal. I said to find a witch and have her bring you through. Honestly, do you not listen at all?”

Mel tensed her shoulders and took a deep breath. “Maybe you should have been more clear in your directions, because there was nothing you said that implied the witch needed to be present at the time we went through the portal.” 

“It was very clearly implied,” Celeste said, stepping closer. 

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have just implied it and you should have actually fucking said it,” Mel yelled back. 

“Ladies, please,” Harry said, trying to rein them both back in. “Celeste, how do we get them out of the marble?” 

“You need to go find the witch and have her throw the marble to reopen the portal. She needs to come through with you. If she doesn’t, then your sisters will be stuck in there indefinitely,” Celeste said, rolling her eyes.

“Stuck inside the marble? Celeste, there’s no oxygen in there,” Harry yelled.

“Yes, Harry, it’s somewhat of an urgent matter,” Celeste retorted. 

“Come on, I’ll orb you there,” Harry said. “We’ll be back to get the two of you.” They left Celeste and Jordan standing in the attic together. 

Harry and Mel landed just outside of Sleet. Mel walked inside quickly, hoping Ruby would still be there. She looked around and easily found her sitting at the bar. She took a deep breath and walked over.

“Wow, um, this place really cleared out, huh?” she said, trying to joke with Ruby. 

Ruby laughed sardonically and took a sip of her drink. “Well, the appearance of the Charmed Ones kind of killed the vibe. People didn’t really want to stick around afterwards.”

“We do tend to have that effect on people,” Mel said softly. “Ruby, I’m so sorry to do this, but I need your help again.” 

Ruby looked at her, her eyes wide at Mel’s daring. “No, Mel. One and done here.”

“Ruby, I get it, but there’s no one else who can help me with this one,” she said, sitting down next to her. “Apparently the only person who can accurately trigger the portal for the marble is the person to whom the marble was issued. My sisters are stuck inside this thing now and I need you to throw it and come through with us into the Command Center, so they don’t suffocate inside the marble. And I fully get how ridiculous this all sounds.” 

* * *

Macy and Maggie sat inside the marble. Macy stood up and began to pace. “Oh god, Maggie, this is so bad,” she said, frantically. “How do we even get out of here?”

Maggie started to feel slightly dizzy from lack of oxygen. “Macy, we just have to wait. We have to trust Mel to figure this out. Just sit down with me.” 

“Shit, you’re right. Moving around is going to increase CO2 production, which is just going to make us suffocate faster,” she said, laying down on the floor next to her sister.

“Just talk to me,” Maggie said, reaching out and holding her sister’s hand. 

“About what?” 

“Talk to me about Harry. Just tell me some of the things you love about him,” she said, focusing calming energy and letting that flow through into Macy’s body. 

Macy instantly relaxed into the floor. A calm smile spread across her face and her eyes went glassy. “He has the ability to make me feel calm, just with his proximity. All he has to do is stand next to me or touch my arm or even just look at me, and I feel safe. I know he’ll do anything to protect me.”

Maggie smiled, feeling the stress flowing out of Macy’s body. “Yeah, what else is there?”

“Um, he’s funny in these unexpected ways. He seems so straight-laced, but when I least expect it, he just has this biting wit that knocks me off center. I spend so much time just laughing with him. And I love hearing him laugh.” 

“Mmhmm, keep going,” Maggie said, closing her eyes. “One more thing.” 

“He makes me feel so loved,” Macy said, her eyes closing. “Sometimes, he looks at me and there’s so much love in his eyes that I can’t breathe. It’s the little things. Like when we were back in Hilltowne, he would bring me lunch some days and he always brought my favorite things to me. Or the morning after I came back from the Darklighter, he cooked my favorite breakfast, even though he was exhausted, too. Or how he listens to me ramble about science and he asks questions, so I know he’s actually interested in what I’m saying.” 

“Good,” Maggie said. “Now, let’s just close our eyes and rest for a little bit. We’ll be out of here before you know it,” she said, squeezing her sister’s hand.

Macy nodded. “Maggie,” she slurred. “Thank you,” she said as sleep overtook her. 

* * *

Mel and Ruby walked outside, finding Harry waiting for them. Mel quickly made introductions and Harry orbed them back to the attic. Celeste and Jordan stood up, having been sitting on the couch, talking to each other.

“Good, now let’s try this again,” Celeste said, glaring at Mel. “This time without anyone getting stuck inside a marble.”

“Again,” Mel snarked. “You should have been more clear with your instructions.”

“Not the time,” Harry said. “Ruby, if you wouldn’t mind throwing the marble, please?” 

Ruby nodded nervously. She opened the portal, allowing the crowd of people to step through into the Command Center. As they landed, a smaller portal opened. Macy and Maggie tumbled through. Harry rushed to Macy’s side while Jordan ran to check on Maggie. 

“What was that?” Macy asked, looking around, getting her bearings as she was able to freely breathe again.

“Slight misunderstanding,” Mel explained. “We needed Ruby, too, not just her marble.” She looked over at her girlfriend with an apologetic smile. “Luckily, she was available.” 

“It’s all good,” Ruby offered. “I’m just glad your sisters are safe now.” 

“And you’re all right, love?” Harry asked, his lips pressed to Macy’s temple. 

“I’m fine, babe,” Macy reassured him, hugging him tightly to her. 

He looked over at Maggie, who was being thoroughly checked over by Jordan. “And you’re fine, too?”

Maggie nodded. “All good here.” 

Celeste cleared her throat. “As adorable as it is that the happy couples are reunited, we need to get this Darklighter out since people are actually trying to kill you.” 

Harry nodded, stepping away from Macy, but keeping hold of her hand as he glared at Celeste. “Yes, we need to hurry. We don’t know if the Command Center is safe anymore or if the Faction is about to blow through the door.” 

Macy nodded. “So, what do we do?”

Celeste walked over to the Book of Elders. “Nimue’s circle of entrapment.” 

“Wait, that’s magic’s most powerful circle,” Mel said. “I’ve only ever read about that.”

“Yes, well, fortunately, I’ve actually done it, so make sure you listen to my directions this time,” Celeste snarked. “Otherwise, the consequences will be dire. Now, Macy, get me distilled salt from the Dead Sea to solidify a boundary.” Macy ran over to the cabinet and pulled the bag out, bringing it back to the Elder. “Mel, Titania’s orgonite prism from Ireland for energy entrapment.” Mel went to another cabinet, selecting the glass prism and bringing it back to the table. “Maggie, consecrated Elder candles of green, yellow, red, and blue to symbolize each of the cardinal directions and fortify the boundary.” Maggie went to a shelf and tossed the candles one at a time to Jordan, who set them on the table next to the other items. 

Harry drew out a circle in chalk on the floor as Macy went over the outline with the salt. Maggie lit each candle and Jordan placed them equidistant around the circle. Mel handed Harry the prism as he stood in the center. 

“Guardian Nimue, using the elements of earth, air, fire, and water, I call upon thee to bless this ritual,” Celeste recited.

She paused and looked at the others. “Now, here’s what will happen next. I will insert the key and release Jimmy. Harry will then act as a magnet, entrapping Jimmy in the circle. Until Jimmy is in that circle, Harry, you must not break the circle for any reason whatsoever.” 

“What happens if he does?” Macy asked nervously.

“Nothing good, so don’t do it,” Celeste said, scolding the Charmed One for even suggesting it. 

Mel, Maggie and Jordan went to stand near the stairs by Ruby, who was awkwardly watching the ritual unfold. Macy stood just outside of the circle next to Harry. 

“Wait, so Jimmy will be standing right here then?” Harry clarified. 

“That’s the goal, yes,” Celeste confirmed.

“Macy, you need to go stand near the others,” Harry said, reaching for her hand. “I don’t want you this close to Jimmy.”

“No, Harry, I’ll be fine,” Macy reassured him. “I want to be here.”

“Macy, you misunderstand,” he said. “I need you over there, not for you, but for me. If you’re this close and anything goes wrong, I’m going to go towards you and make sure you’re okay. If you’re over there, I know your sisters and Jordan will protect you. I need to be able to focus on staying exactly here and I can’t do that when you’re this close to me.”

Macy bit her lip, worryingly. “Fine. I don’t like it, but I’ll do it.” She walked over to the others and looked back at Harry, giving him a reassuring smile.

“Alright, Celeste,” Harry said, looking at the Elder. “Unleash the monster.” 

The room was silent for a moment before things began to shake. It started with just a slight rumbling, a glass bottle tinkling as it knocked back and forth into another. It then grew in power as things began to fall from shelves and tables. 

“Damn it, take cover!” Celeste yelled before diving under the nearest table. 

The bottle opened with a gigantic energy blast that knocked everyone to the floor. Harry was knocked clean on his ass, fortunately not hard enough that he left the circle. He looked over to see the sisters still lying on the floor. 

“Are you okay?” he yelled, clenching his fists to fight the urge to run over and check on his charges. Mel and Maggie sat up, looking around.

“We’re fine,” Maggie yelled back. She looked over to see Macy had hit her head on the edge of the stair and was still on the floor. She grabbed Jordan, who had also just sat up. 

“Why isn’t Macy getting up?” Harry yelled worriedly.

“I’ve got her, Harry,” Jordan said, kneeling down next to the eldest sister. “Just stay where you are.” 

Smoke wafted into the circle next to Harry as Jimmy appeared. “Missed me?” he sneered at the Whitelighter.

“Not even slightly,” Harry said, as he reached up and punched the Darklighter across the face the way he had longed to for months. He then swept Jimmy’s legs out from underneath him and pinned him to the ground, grabbing his wrist to place a magic-blocking cuff. “But that felt fucking good.” 

Harry looked over to the sisters. They had formed a barrier around Macy’s body and he couldn’t clearly see if she had woken up yet. He went to step forward before looking down. He looked at Celeste, who had reemerged from under the table. “Am I allowed to break the circle now?” he asked.

Celeste nodded. “Yes, there should be no problem with breaking it now.” 

He tentatively stepped outside the salt circle, still half-expecting it to explode or knock him unconscious. He threw a forcefield around Jimmy and rushed over to his girlfriend. 

Just as Harry ran across the room, he saw Macy sitting up. Jordan was still doing a quick assessment for a concussion. 

“Macy, love, are you okay?” Harry asked, taking her in his arms. 

“I’m fine,” she reassured him. “I just hit my head on the stair and it took me a second to wake up. But I’m fine.” 

He moved his hand along the back of her head, looking for any hidden injuries he needed to heal. Finding nothing, he sighed with relief. He turned to Jordan. “Thank you for your help,” he said sincerely. 

“No problem, man,” Jordan reassured him. “We’re all good here, so nothing to worry about.”

They all turned back and looked at Jimmy, who was punching the edge of the forcefield, trying to get out. “And what? Are you all just planning on leaving me in here now?” he sneered. 

“He’s right, Harry,” Mel said. “We can’t leave him in here. We don’t know how much longer the Command Center is going to be safe. The last thing we need is for Julian to get in here and see Jimmy sitting here, waiting for him.” 

“So, what? We take him home with us?” Harry scoffed. 

“The garden shed,” Maggie said. “We’ll put him in there, leave his magic-blocking cuff on, put wards up to prevent him from getting out. That way, we can keep an eye on him, but he’s not in the house with us.” 

Harry looked to Macy, nervously. “What do you think, love?”

“I think it’s really the only option we have,” Macy sighed. “Come on, let’s go home.” 

They grabbed everything they thought they might need from the Command Center, mainly the Book of Elders and some of their potions materials, as they reopened a portal home. Harry and Jordan each grabbed a hold of Jimmy to ensure he couldn’t get away and all of them walked back through to the Manor. 

* * *

As Harry and Jordan got Jimmy situated in the garden shed, Mel took Ruby home for the evening, needing a chance to spend some time with her away from all the magic. Maggie started dinner for all of them. 

Macy stood in the living room, trying to deal with the idea that her tormentor was now living in her backyard.

“You know this can only cause problems, right?” she heard someone say from behind her. 

“What are you talking about?” Macy said, turning around to see Celeste walking into the room. 

“Your relationship with Harry,” she said, crossing her arms. “Witch/whitelighter relationships are forbidden for a reason.”

“Yes, by an organization that no longer exists,” Macy said, setting her jaw in irritation. “Now, there’s no one saying we can’t be together.”

“Macy, be logical about this,” Celeste implored her. “Emotions cloud judgement.”

“Now I know where Harry always got that from,” Macy scoffed. “Look, Celeste, I appreciate your concern. But Harry and I have been through way too much this year for anyone to break us up, especially not you. I have spent my entire life restraining my emotions and I’m done doing that. I am in love with Harry and he’s in love with me. And in this world that is full of death and despair and misery, I’m going to celebrate the fact that we have found each other. And I’m sorry if you don’t approve of that, but the great thing is you don’t have to.” 

“You two are both incredibly stubborn,” Celeste sighed. “I just hope you two know what you’re doing.” 

“We’re going to figure it out together,” Macy said. “Now, I have questions for you. Jimmy can’t live in our garden shed indefinitely, so we need to come up with a plan. You know more about Whitelighters and Darklighters than anyone on this earth. Is there a way to split their connection? Make it so if one of them dies, the other one can survive?”

“I may know a way to do that, yes,” Celeste said. “There was an incident back in the 1700s, one of the first times we tried to create a Whitelighter. I haven’t done it in 300 years, but I remember how to do it.”

Macy closed her eyes and sighed with relief. “Please, please, tell me you can help me do it to Harry and Jimmy.” 

Celeste nodded. “I can help you. Now, it would take away Jimmy’s immortality and we would need to wipe his memory, so he can’t be used against you.” 

“I truly don’t care what happens to him,” Macy said confidently. “I just want to keep Harry safe.” 

“We’ll work on it in the morning,” Celeste said. 

Maggie yelled from the kitchen that dinner was ready. Macy and the Elder walked into the kitchen to find Harry and Jordan sitting at the counter, talking to Maggie. 

“Ugh, we should probably feed Jimmy,” Maggie said, rolling her eyes. 

“I’ll take it to him,” Macy said, grabbing a plate and putting some food on it.

“Macy, you don’t have to,” Harry said, his brow furrowed. “I’ll take it out there.”

“No, I have some stuff I need to say to him,” Macy assured him. “You can stand at the door and watch if you’d like, but I need to do this.”

Harry nodded and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll be at the doorway the whole time.”

She walked into the backyard and knocked on the garden shed before opening the door.

“Oh, now I never would have expected to see you out here,” Jimmy sneered. “Are you my conjugal visit in this little prison cell?”

“Shut the hell up,” Macy said, setting the plate on a box. “Now, I have some things to say to you. You’re going to stay silent and listen to them.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “For weeks, you violated my dreams. You kidnapped me and you violated my body repeatedly. I almost let your actions take away my chance at happiness with Harry because I was so traumatized by what you had done. But you have no power over me anymore. I take it away from you. I am done being scared of you. I am done giving you the privilege of impacting any part of my life. You are a monster, Jimmy. You’re all the worst parts of the man that I love wrapped up in one smarmy, evil little package. So, take this food and eat it. But just know that I’m not scared of you anymore. Harry will always be the superior half and I plan on spending the rest of my life loving him.” 

“Am I supposed to applaud now?” he scoffed with his arms crossed. “That’s a lovely little speech, but have you forgotten about the fact that we’re still tied together, him and me? If one of us goes, so does the other.” 

“Not for much longer,” she said, smiling. “Enjoy the rest of your night, asshole.”

He was taken aback by her words. “Wait, what do you mean by that?” he yelled as she walked away. 

She paused outside the closed shed door and took a deep breath. It had been exhilarating to tell him off. She walked over to Harry and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. 

“What was that for?” he asked. “What happened in there?”

“Nothing at all,” she said, smiling. “Now, let’s go eat dinner. I’m famished.”

The couple walked inside to sit down at the dinner table with Maggie, Jordan, and Celeste. 

“So, what do we do about the asshole?” Maggie asked.

“Celeste and I have a plan that will take care of everything,” Macy smiled. “He won’t be our problem for much longer.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry asked, curiously. 

“I know of a way to split the two of you,” Celeste said, cautiously. “If that’s something you are okay with me doing.” 

“Yes,” he said immediately. “Absolutely yes. How soon can you do it?” 

“I will need the Power of Three to complete the spell, so we can do it in the morning when Mel returns,” Celeste said. “If you don’t mind me staying for a while longer, that is?”

“Of course not,” Harry said. “And it will really rid us of that monster?”

“It would essentially be splitting you into two complete beings,” she confirmed. “Then if anything happened to Jimmy, it would have no effect whatsoever on you. You would be able to live freely.” 

He closed his eyes and sighed in relief. He turned to look at Macy. “We’d be completely free of him.” 

She smiled and nodded in cautious excitement. “Just a few hours longer, babe. And then we’re free.” 

The mood stayed considerably lighter through the remainder of dinner. Maggie showed Celeste to the attic and set her up on the couch for the night. She walked downstairs to find Jordan sitting in front of the fire, staring with a serious look on his face.

“Hey, what’s up?” she asked, sitting down next to him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he said, not at all convincingly. “Just thinking about some stuff.” 

“Well, that doesn’t sound ominous at all,” she said, nervously. “Talk to me.” 

Harry walked downstairs just then and walked into the living room. “I got your text. What’s wrong?”

“Hey, Mags, can I talk to Harry for a while?” Jordan asked. “I promise I’ll fill you in on things. I just need to talk to Harry first.” 

“Okay, if you’re sure,” she said. “But I’m really worried now.” 

“Don’t be,” Jordan reassured her, cradling her face in his hands. “I love you.” 

She nodded and kissed him quickly before walking upstairs. 

Harry sat down on the couch next to Jordan. “So, you said you wanted to talk about something. What’s wrong?”

“Do you want some scotch?” Jordan asked nervously. “I’ve never been a big scotch fan myself, but this feels like a time I would need some scotch. And I don’t know why I keep saying scotch.” 

“Yeah, I’m going to get us both a drink,” Harry said, standing up. “You’re freaking out about something.” He went over to the cabinet and poured out liquor for the both of them. As he sat back down, he handed Jordan the glass. “Now, what’s up?” 

“So, when you and Mel went back to get Ruby, I started talking with Celeste. She was trying to figure out what my role is to all of you. I explained my curse and how I was trying to atone for Lawrence’s sins. I asked her if she could make me a Whitelighter.”

Harry’s mouth dropped. “Jordan, are you certain about this?”

“Yes? No? I have no idea,” he said, taking a drink. “What I do know is that I’ve been trying to find a place where I fit for a long time. First, I thought it was the military. Then I thought maybe running the gym. I’ve been trying the law school thing. Nothing felt right until I started learning magic, though. And mixing potions is great, but it’s not enough. I’m not a magical being. I want to do more. I want to be in this world completely.” 

“This is a huge decision, Jordan,” Harry assured him. “And it’s not something you should rush into.”

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” Jordan said, looking down into his drink. “Celeste told me she could do it. I mean, I would essentially die and be reborn.”

“Yes, you would,” Harry said. “You’d never be able to go back to anyone from your old life. It would be a complete clean slate. Not to mention, the process is quite brutal. You’ve seen everything I’ve been through with Jimmy this year. You’d be creating a new Darklighter, though I imagine the dark parts of you are still better than the best parts of a lot of people in the world.”

Jordan sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know about that, man.” He looked at Harry seriously. “Knowing what you know now, would you do it again? Would you become a Whitelighter?”

Harry looked into the fire. He thought back to the bits and pieces he remembered from his old life. He thought of the misery he caused his wife, the ways he had failed his son. He considered the pride he felt in working with his charges over the years. And finally, he thought about his time with the Charmed Ones. If he had never been a Whitelighter, he never would have met Mel, Maggie, or Macy. 

“I would do it all over again in a heartbeat,” he said. “Because it brought me here. It brought me to Macy and her sisters. Being a part of their family has made all the pain worth it. But Jordan, not every witch is going to be Maggie. I had numerous charges where I was nothing more than a servant to them. Someone to heal them when they were injured and try to teach them.”

“But man, there are so many witches out there who need someone,” Jordan said. “I keep thinking about Cassie. Who is going to be her Whitelighter? Who is going to teach her? Protect her? You’re the only one who is left. You can’t protect them all. Why can’t that be how I make a difference?”

Harry nodded. “I think about Cassie a lot, too. And you’re not wrong. Witches are all in danger. How about this? Don’t make any decisions now. Help us defeat the Faction. Once we’re rid of them, if you still want to become a Whitelighter, I’ll support you in whatever decision you make.”

“You don’t think I’m crazy then?” Jordan asked, nervously.

“Oh, I didn’t say that,” Harry said, jokingly. “But no, Jordan. You’re a good man with a big heart. You’re not crazy at all. I just worry about the consequences of your actions. Now, come on, Maggie is probably freaking out and I’ve been away from Macy for much longer than I would prefer.” 

The men walked upstairs to find Maggie sitting in Macy’s room, biting her thumbnail in worry. 

“Come on, babe,” Jordan said. “Let’s go to bed.” 

“Everything’s okay?” Maggie asked, concerned. 

“It is more than okay,” he reassured her. “Just needed some advice from Harry.” He smiled at the Whitelighter. “Thanks for the talk, man. Night, Macy.”

The young couple walked back to Maggie’s room as Harry gently shut the door and moved over to the bed. He sat down, resting his back against the headboard. 

“What was all that about?” Macy asked, leaning against him. He pressed a kiss to her hair as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Jordan wants to become a Whitelighter,” he said. “He wanted to talk to me about his decision.”

“Wait, what?” Macy said, sitting up. “Did you talk him out of it?”

“No, but I didn’t talk him into it, either,” he said. “I was just honest with him. I tried to dissuade him at first, but he asked me if I regretted my life as a Whitelighter, and I don’t. How could I when it led me to you?” 

Macy leaned back into his chest and kissed him. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m thankful every day that you’re my Whitelighter, but I would understand if you regret your decision. It caused so much pain.” 

“It did, there’s no denying that,” he said, brushing his fingers through her hair. “But Macy, if I hadn’t become a Whitelighter, I never would have found you. You make all the pain, all the years of isolation and misery, you make it all worth it.”

“I love you, Harry Greenwood,” she said, kissing him softly. 

“I love you, Macy Vaughn,” he said, resting his head against hers. He looked over at her bedside table and noticed a familiar envelope sitting there. “Oh god, you and your sisters found the letters?” he said, cringing. 

“I mean, technically, James found them and pointed them out to us, so it’s kind of your fault in a way,” she said, joking. “But yes.” She picked it up and handed it to him. 

“Yours is still closed,” he said, questioningly. “I thought your curiosity would have won out.” 

“I wanted you to read it to me,” she smiled. “If you’re okay with that.” 

“Sure,” he said, opening the envelope. “Just remember I thought I was dying when I wrote this, so it’s maybe not the most eloquent thing in the world.”

“Just read it, Harry,” she said, laughing and leaning her head against his chest. 

“Fine, here it goes: _My dearest Macy, if you are reading this, I did not make it home. Please know I fought for you. There is no world where I am not fighting to return home to you._ ” He stopped, fighting back tears at the thought of how close he came to losing her. At the knowledge he could have died without getting to tell Macy how much he loved her, without hearing those magical words back from her. 

She pulled her arms tight around him. “But you did make it home, babe. You’re safe.” She looked up at him and smiled. “Keep going?”

He nodded. “ _There are no words to explain what I feel for you. I could write an entire novel and it would be inadequate. You are quite simply the most exquisite person I have ever had the privilege of knowing_ ,” he said, staring into her eyes. “ _In all of my lifetimes, you are my true love. You are my reason for existence. You have shown me what it truly means to love someone_.” 

She stopped him by pressing her lips against his, kissing him passionately. “Sorry, I had to do that,” she laughed. 

“Never apologize for that,” he said. “But that’s not the end of the letter.”

“Fine, just know I’m probably going to do that again,” she said, settling her head back on his shoulder. 

“I think I’ll survive,” he laughed. He paused as he read over the next couple sentences. This next part was the one that made him the most nervous. They had been together for such a short amount of time and he didn’t want to spook her. 

“Harry?” she asked, looking up at him. “Are you going to finish?” 

He looked down at her, deciding to just tell her the truth. She deserved to know the depth of his feelings for her. “Yes, sorry. Continuing now. _While I was sick with that demon parasite, I envisioned a future with you. Stolen moments together_ .” He paused, looking into her eyes. “ _Our wedding day. Our future children_ .” Her eyes got wide as she breathed in sharply. He continued. “ _All I want is for those dreams to become a reality_ ,” he said, looking at her with such an intensity she was glad she was already sitting down.

“Harry…” she said, reaching up to caress his cheek.

“Let me get through the rest of this?” he asked. She nodded and he pulled her hand in his. “ _You are the strongest and most fearless woman I have ever met. I am hopelessly, endlessly in love with you. I sincerely hope you will never read this letter and I will be able to tell you all of these things in person. If you are, though, know that I loved you until my dying day. Please don’t shut your sisters out in your pain. Remember that vulnerability is not a weakness. Trust in yourself. I adore you, Macy Vaughn. Yours always, Harry_.” 

He put the letter over on the nightstand as she sat there, speechless. He looked back at her and she instantly swung her leg over his to straddle him, kissing him deeply. Their tongues tangled for a few moments as she unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. 

“Macy, slow down,” he said, laughing. “There’s no rush.”

“Did you mean it?” she asked quickly, her eyes wide.

“Which part?” he asked, twirling one of her curls around his finger while he looked into her eyes. 

“About wanting to marry me. Have kids with me,” she said, nervously.

“More than anything, my love,” he reassured her. “And trust me, this is not a proposal. We’re still figuring out how we work together as a couple, so there’s no need to rush into anything more just yet. But Macy, my intention is to marry you one day, if you’ll have me. You are it for me, my love. I’m sure of that.” 

She smiled, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “If you asked me now, I might say yes and I’m aware that is insane considering we’ve been together for about five minutes.” 

He laughed. “It’s a little insane, but it’s good to know we’re working towards the same end goal here.” 

“Will you tell me about them? The visions you had,” she asked hesitantly. 

“Of course,” he said. He moved so he was laying down and pulled Macy into his chest. She intertwined her leg with his and rested her head on his chest. He told her tales of future family birthday parties, a small backyard wedding officiated by her sisters, and two little children who were the most perfect combination of the two of them. 

In the morning, they would wake up. They would still have to defeat the Faction. They would have to figure out how to get rid of his Darklighter. But tonight, in their bed, they talked about their desires for a shared future and reassured each other of their love. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot begin to thank everyone enough who has made it to the end of this story. I started writing this back in August. At the time, I had just started writing fic again for the first time in nearly a decade. I had never actually completed a multi-chapter story. Now, almost 500 pages later, my first one is completed. For everyone who has left comments, reached out through Twitter, or messaged me through Discord, thank you. 
> 
> I am eternally grateful for my wonderful beta katasstropheee. When this story began, she and I had talked maybe twice. She wasn't even following me on Twitter. I was just a fan of her writing and asked if she might help me. Neither of us knew how long this story would end up being. Months later, I don't go a day without talking to her. She is legitimately one of my favorite people in the world and I'm honored to be able to call her a friend. She has helped to shape this story in so many ways. She has gotten me to think about my writing in different ways. I am a better writer because of her. If you haven't read her Charmed stories, please go do so. They are phenomenal. 
> 
> I have another multi-chapter story I'm working on right now. I'm on chapter four of a currently planned twelve. It will be more in the vein of "Hold My Hand," my only other multi-chapter fic. Except unlike HMH, this one is actually planned to be multi-chapter from the beginning. I have no idea when that'll start posting, so I'm not going to make any promises. I'm sure I'll write some one shots with the new episodes as well. 
> 
> If you've made it this far into this novel of a note, thank you. And if I could be a little selfish, please leave a comment. I would love to hear your thoughts on the story. And for one last time, thank you for reading.


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